This March, the Belvoir stage will be transformed for an inventive, surprising, gorgeous, lo-fi spectacular production of Into the Woods, coinciding with the birthday of the play’s creator, the late theatre great Stephen Sondheim.
This Tony Award-winning musical will feature a stellar cast of Australian musical theatre royalty, including Tamsin Carroll, fresh from performing in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie on the West End, rising star Shubshri Kandiah (Aladdin, Cinderella and soon to be seen in Beauty and The Beast), Tim Draxl (Jagged Little Pill, A Chorus Line), Justin Smith (Billy Elliot The Musical, Avenue Q) Esther Hannaford (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Hayes Theatre Co’s Little Shop of Horrors) and Peter Carroll (The Cherry Orchard, STC’s The Tempest).
Co-produced with the Hayes Theatre Co, Belvoir’s Artistic Director Eamon Flack will helm this theatrical masterpiece, completing his trilogy of American classics that began with the magnificent Angels in America and continued with the critically acclaimed The Glass Menagerie.
Brought to the Sydney mainstage for the first time in thirty years, this musical will enthral audiences with its darkly comedic and utterly entertaining reimagining of the familiar Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
Into the Woods will have audiences questioning what ‘happily ever after’ means, proving nothing is as black and white as the children’s stories would have them believe.
It begins, of course, with “Once upon a time…” By the end of the opening number, not one but six fairytale plots have intertwined, as Cinderella, the Baker and his Wife, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack of beanstalk fame all head into the woods in search of love, happiness, wisdom.
Three midnights of brilliant plot twists later they all end up with their happy endings. Except this is only the interval… We all want our wishes fulfilled, but are we prepared to pay the price?
“Into the Woods is the truest and happiest thing I can think of to offer audiences in 2023,” said Belvoir’s Artistic Director, Eamon Flack.
“It’s about story and storytelling, about how we live for each other. It’s both light and dark, the plotting is as joyful as Shakespeare’s, and the music is glorious.
“Best of all, seeing this at Belvoir means being in the same room as performers like Esther Hannaford and Tamsin Carroll. Don’t miss it.”
The incredible cast also includes as Lena Cruz (Mother Courage, Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Anne-Maree McDonald (Opera Australia’s Fiddler on the Roof), Stefanie Caccamo (Darlinghurst Theatre Co.’s Once, Hayes Theatre Co’s Godspell), Marty Alix (Hayes Theatre Co’s Spamalot, Hamilton), Mo Lovegrove (Jagged Little Pill) and Andrew Coshan (Hayes Theatre Co’s Merrily We Roll Along).
From the genius of Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods features stunning lyrics and score, and a book by James Lapine, that will have the audiences laughing one moment and in tears the other.
Into The Woods
Upstairs Theatre – Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Season: 22 March – 23 April 2023 (previews: 18 – 21 March)
Information and Bookings: www.belvoir.com.au
Image: Shubshri Kandiah, Tim Draxl, Marty Alix, Mo Lovegrove, Justin Smith and Esther Hannaford star in Into The Woods (supplied)