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Photo Credit: SCR staff

COSTA MESA, Calif.— South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Suzanne Appel) opens its 63^rd season with a new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods, running Sept. 12 through Oct. 18 on the Segerstrom Stage. Directed by Peter Rothstein, with musical direction by Wiley DeWeese, the popular Tony Award-winning musical—part of SCR’s American Icons series honoring artists who reshaped American culture—marks its 40th anniversary this year.

This is SCR’s first production of Into the Woods and its eighth by Sondheim. The run, originally scheduled through Oct. 10, has been extended through Oct. 18.

“Into the Woods is an astonishing musical—theatrical, magical, haunting and transportive,” said Ivers. “Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine weave together complex tales we think we know and dare to ask ‘what comes after happily ever after?’ Featuring a glorious multi-layered score, it’s a feast for the senses and a loving reminder of why Sondheim occupies a singular place at the top of our American composers.”

The Musical

When the Baker and his wife venture into the forest to break a witch’s curse, they encounter Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (of beanstalk fame)—and familiar tales take on clever new lives. But be careful what you wish for, because “happily ever after” is never the whole story. This poignant musical comedy masterpiece celebrates its 40^th anniversary with a fabulous new SCR production featuring 12 actors instead of the customary 18 or more. Ivers described Into the Woods as “an absolute masterpiece.”

Sondheim’s witty, enchanting score and Lapine’s imaginative, dark book combine to make Into the Woods one of American theatre’s most beloved musicals. A two-time Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theatre Album, Into the Woods features memorable songs such as “No One is Alone,” “Agony,” “Children Will Listen,” “Last Midnight” and “Giants in the Sky.”

Into the Woods premiered in December 1986 at The Old Globe in San Diego, before opening on Broadway the following November. Lapine, who wrote the book, directed the original Broadway production that captured three Tony Awards from its 10 nominations, winning for Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, with Joanna Gleason receiving Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. The play’s 2002 Broadway revival would receive two more Tonys: for Best Revival of a Musical and for Best Lighting Design. Laura Benanti, who will appear on SCR’s stage later this

season in her one-woman comedy show with music, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in the same revival.

In his review of the original Broadway production, Allan Wallach of Newsday wrote, “Into the Woods blends imagination and playfulness in its own very special proportions. By the end, the musical arrives at a clearing in the woods illuminated by autumnal shafts of wisdom, but not before it has followed a path strewn with wit and the beguiling songs we’ve come to expect from Sondheim.”

Appel adds, “Our fairy tale heroes of Into the Woods begin the story each on a quest for their own

happiness. But as our incredible director Peter Rothstein pointed out at first rehearsal, the great

Steven Sondheim once said, ‘A folktale without a moral is merely a whimsy.’ Among Sondheim and

Lapine’s morals is ‘the notion of community responsibility.’ At South Coast Repertory, we ask Orange

County to choose to include South Coast Repertory in your community as we kick off our largest

season since the COVID pandemic with this glorious musical.”

Sondheim and Lapine

Considered one of the most brilliant and creative playwrights and lyricists in American history, Sondheim (1930-2021) is credited with reinventing the American musical. After getting his start writing the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, Sondheim segued into writing both music and lyrics. His extensive list of Broadway credits, such as A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Follies, Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins and Sunday in the Park with George, are known for taking on themes that go far beyond the traditional musical genre. They are also known their musical complexity and sophistication.

New York Times Music Critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that Sondheim’s work “while hewing to a tonal musical language, activated harmonies and folded elements of jazz and impressionist styles in his own distinctive, exhilarating voice.”

That style earned him numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Sooner or Later” from the 1990 film Dick Tracy, eight Tony Awards and eight Grammy Awards. Many of his works were adapted for film, including West Side Story (both the 1961 and 2021 versions), Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Into the Woods.

Sondheim’s impact on theatre was so deep and profound that upon his 2021 death, theatres around the West End of London dimmed their lights for two minutes in tribute. Nine days later, Broadway theatres paid the same tribute for one minute.

A frequent collaborator with Sondheim, Lapine is a noted director, playwright, screenwriter and librettist. He wrote the books for and directed Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and Passion, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George.

Beyond his collaboration with Sondheim, Lapine has directed a wide range of Broadway plays and musicals, employing a storytelling style that blends humor and emotional depth. He co-wrote and directed Falsettos with composer William Flinn, earning Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical.

Lapine’s talents stretch into playwriting. He has written several plays, including Luck, Pluck and Virtue, starring Neil Patrick Harris, The Moment When, featuring Mark Ruffalo and Phyllis Newman, and Fran’s Bed, starring Mia Farrow.

Director Peter Rothstein

One of the most influential voices shaping American musical theatre today, Rothstein is a director, writer and producer recognized for pushing the boundaries of musical theatre. As the co-founder of Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis, Rothstein directed 92 mainstage productions, including 14 world premieres. At Latté Da, Rothstein built a reputation as a brilliant director of Sondheim’s works.

He is the creator of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, a work he conceived as a radio-docudrama that has since been performed and broadcast internationally. winning the 2019 New York Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. His directing work spans a wide range of institutions beyond Latté Da, including the Guthrie Theater, the Children’s Theatre Company, Minnesota Opera, Ten Thousand Things, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, and Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Rothstein’s contributions to the field, including the 2015 Artist of the Year honor from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Theater Artist of the Year from Lavender, and Best Director from City Pages, along with nine Ivey Awards and fellowships from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts. Rothstein is the producing artistic director of Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL.

Music Director Wiley DeWeese

DeWeese (@neverthecoyote) returns to SCR two years after music directing the world premiere of Prelude to a Kiss, The Musical and one year after Million Dollar Quartet. His Broadway credits include The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Girl from the North Country and Amelie, which he also musically directed at Center Theatre Group and Berkeley Repertory. DeWeese also served as musical director for the national tours of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and Girl from the North Country.

His Off-Broadway and regional credits include Prelude to a Kiss, The Musical (Milwaukee Rep), First Daughter Suite and The Fortress of Solitude (The Public Theater), Gatsby: An American Myth (American Repertory Theater) and All the World’s a Stage (Keen Company). DeWeese served as musical supervisor, orchestrator and co-producer of the Michael Friedman Recording Project, which released 10 albums of the late composer’s work.

The Cast

Into the Woods features Cooper Lee Bennett (Rapunzel’s Prince/Steward), Michael Austin Deni (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Christian Tyler Dorey (Jack), Chamblee Ferguson (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Becca Claire Hart (Rapunzel/Florinda), Danielle Hope (The Baker’s Wife), Amanda Naughton (Cinderella’s Stepmother/Granny/Giant), Valerie Perri (The Witch), Mia Pinero (Cinderella), Dylan Saunders (The Baker), Katy Tang (Jack’s Mother/Cinderella’s Mother) and Hailey Truong (Little Red Riding Hood/Lucinda).

The understudies are Garrett Thomas Deagon (Narrator/Mysterious Man, Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf, Rapunzel’s Prince/Steward, Sierra Jimenez (Cinderella/Rapunzel), Alexandra Melrose (The Witch, Cinderella’s Stepmother/Granny, Jack’s Mother/Cinderella’s Mother), Franca Rosenblatt (The Baker’s Wife, Little Red Riding Hood/Lucinda) and Jake Stiel (Jack, The Baker).

Six of the 12 cast members – Bennett, Deni, Naughton, Perri, Saunders and Tang—are familiar faces to Southern California audiences, having appeared at East West Players, the Hollywood Bowl, Pasadena Playhouse, Musical Theatre West, The Mark Taper Forum, Boston Court, La Mirada Theatre and Laguna Playhouse.

Rosenblatt and Stiel, currently graduate students at UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts, are understudying through “The Next Stage,” a partnership between SCR and UCI.  This is the second year of the partnership, which has expanded from seven apprenticeships in last winter’s Rep of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage to 15 apprenticeships across SCR’s 2026-27 season.

The Creative Team

The design and creative team includes Adam Koch, scenic design; Danielle Nieves, costume design; Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz, lighting design; Noel Nichols, UptownWorks, sound design; Greg Emetaz, projection design and Michael Polak, intimacy consultant. Talia Krispel is the production stage manager. Casting is by The Telsey Office, Rose Bochner, CSA and Brian Sutow, CSA.