Into the Woods Is Coming to Manila This 2025

(SPOT.ph) Theater fans, do we have news for you! We just got word that the legendary Stephen Sondheim, Tony Award-winning Broadway show, Into the Woods, is being staged in Manila this year. 

In a post on their social media platforms, Theatre Group Asia—the creative group behind the 2024 staging of Request sa Radyo, starring Lea Salonga and Dolly De Leon—announced that the fairytale-inspired play will be performed at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati this August.

At this point, not much is known about the upcoming production except that we might expect an all-Filipino cast—well, at least that's how we understand Theatre Group Asia's mission statement plastered on their website. This is particularly true of the part that reads, "Theatre Group Asia strives to produce works led by Filipino creatives and performed by artists of Filipino heritage, with a commitment to engaging Filipino audiences and fostering connections within the international theatre community."

Also read: The Most Memorable Theater Moments of 2024

What is Into the Woods all about?

Into the Woods is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by the renowned composer Stephen Sondheim, written by playwright and theater director James Lapine.

The play weaves together the timeless threads of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, creating a rich tapestry of dreams, desires, and the unexpected consequences of pursuing them.

You'll see a lot of familiar faces like Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and Rapunzel but don't expect their stories in the play to be 100% similar to their storybook versions. The play moves beyond the characters' usual narrative, revealing more complex layers beneath their happily-ever-afters. Safe to say, if Disney and Grimm's versions of their tales left you wanting more, Into the Woods might just scratch that itch.

In case the title sounds familiar, this Sondheim classic was also adapted into a 2014 Disney movie starring a powerhouse cast, including Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, and James Corden, garnering mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. 

This also isn't the first time Into the Woods was brought to life in the Manila stage. Back in 2015, Upstart Productions staged a "nature-inspired" run of the musical, done quite literally in the "woods" of BGC's Kalikasan Amphitheater. 

We're keeping our fingers crossed and our eyes peeled for more details about this much-anticipated production.

Check out these other shows coming to Manila this year:
A Marvel Infinity Saga Concert Experience Is Coming This March
The Music of Harry Potter and LOTR Are Coming to Manila This Year

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