Casting Announcement for "INTO THE WOODS"

VIRGINIA THEATRE FESTIVAL MAKES FIRST CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR UPCOMING 51st SEASON-OPENING PRODUCTION OF STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S INTO THE WOODS

SHOW TO BE DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY UVA AND VTF ALUM MATTHEW STEFFENS

Into The Woods to Open June 27 in Culbreth Theatre

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – April 21, 2025 – The Virginia Theatre Festival has announced the cast and creative team for its season-opening production of Into the Woods.

Set to run June 27-July 6 in Culbreth Theatre at the University of Virginia, Into the Woods will be directed and choreographed by Matthew Steffens, who directed and choreographed the highly acclaimed 2023 VTF production of Cabaret and returns to VTF and his alma mater from recently serving as Associate Choreographer on the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival and subsequent national tour of Into the Woods.

The cast for Into the Woods will include:

  • James Ludwig (Narrator/Mysterious Man) – Broadway: Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors. Off Broadway: Blue Man Group: Tubes, john & jen. TV/Film: Chapelle’s Show, Lipstick Jungle, Law & Order, The Happy Hour Guys.
  • Jamila Sabares-Klemm (Witch) – Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along. Off-Broadway/Regional: Hamilton, Hair, The Prince of Egypt, Rent, Miss Saigon, The King and I, Spamalot, In The Heights, A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, Sweeney Todd, Baby. TV/Film: Law and Order, Dear Edward, Helpsters.
  • Marilyn Caserta (Baker’s Wife) – Broadway/National Tour: SIX (Theatre World Award winner), NYC: Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Ainadamar (Met Opera), The Sabbath Girl (Penguin Rep, 59E59). Regional: Frozen, West Side Story, TV: Law & Order SVU.
  • Alexi Ishida (Cinderella) – Theatre: Sister Act, Sunset Boulevard, Elf The Musical (Broadway At Music Circus), Tiananmen (World Premiere, Phoenix Theatre Company), Jekyll & Hyde (Gretna Theatre), Joseph… (Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre), A Christmas Carol (North Shore Music Theatre) and Beauty and the Beast (Disney Cruise Lines).
  • Jeffrey Todd Parrott (Baker) – Regional: Animal Crackers, The Mousetrap, Big River, South Pacific Nicholas Nickleby: Parts 1 and 2, Violet. Film/TV: Chicago Med.
  • Adam Enrique Hollick (Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince) – Theatre: Death of a Salesman, A View From the Bridge, Beauty and the Beast, Sweeney Todd, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jersey Boys. Film/TV: Been There All Along, Middlehood, Deadly Sins, Adventures of Aladdin.
  • Wendy Novicoff (Cinderella’s Stepmother) – VTF: Cabaret, Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver!, Ragtime. Local/Regional: Into the Woods, Evita, Falsettos, Sweeney Todd, Follies, It Shoulda’ Been You, 9 to 5, Putting It Together.
  • Jaston Brooks (Jack) – Regional: Newsies, Kiss Me Kate. Educational: Legally Blonde, Into the Woods, Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812, The Wild Party. Live Entertainment: The Swell Tones, Come See About Me (Cedar Point).
  • Xavier Taylor (Rapunzel’s Prince) – Opera: Nashville Opera, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Opera Company of Brooklyn. Local: Kinky Boots (Live Arts).
  • Kristin Rose Kelleher (Jack’s Mom) – National Tour: The Cher Show. Cruise Line: MAMMA MIA!. Regional: Les Misérables, Austen’s Pride.
  • Meredith Fox (Little Red Ridinghood) – Off-Broadway: Totally Awesome Summer. National Tours: CocoMelon LIVE!, American Girl Live! in Concert. Cruise: Disney Cruise Line. Regional: Fulton Theatre, The Palace Theatre, Interlakes Summer Theatre, Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. TV/Film: A Complete Unknown, Split, The Morning Show,
  • Katie Wall (Florinda) – Regional: Godspell (Paul Bunyan Playhouse), The Rocky Horror Show (Paul Bunyan Playhouse). Local: The Prom (Four County Players).
  • Cameron Gardner (Lucinda) – Local/University: As You Like It – Taub, Crazy for You, Little Shop of Horrors, Matilda, Carrie, Footloose, Twelfth Night –
  • Joey Wharton (Cinderella’s Father) – VTF: Pirates of Penzance. Local/University: Tiny Beautiful Things, The Comedy of Errors, A Christmas Carol, Wait Until Dark, It Shoulda Been You!, Spamalot, Into the Woods.
  • Ella Green (Cinderella’s Mother/Granny/Giant) – Regional: South Pacific, Daddy Long Legs, Guys and Dolls, Godspell, Ragtime
  • Chloe Rogers (Rapunzel) – Regional: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. University/Local: Little Mermaid, Twelfth Night, Into the Woods, A Chorus Line, In the Heights.
  • Edward Warwick White (Steward) – VTF: My Fair Lady, Local/University: Anything Goes, Elf: The Musical, Ragtime, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Les Misérables, The Drowsy Chaperone, Into the Woods, The Fantasticks, Annie, and The Scarlet Pimpernel
  • Soren Corbett (Milky White) – Regional: 9 to 5: The Musical, The Sound of Music. Local/University: Carrie: The Musical, Alice by Heart, Cinderella, Into the Woods.

The creative team for Into the Woods will include Ian Miller (Musical Director); Nate Bertone (Scenic Designer); Grier Coleman (Costume Designer); Andrew F. Griffin (Lighting Designer); Michael Rasbury (Sound Designer); Colleen Kelly (Fights & Intimacy Coordinator); Ian Coulter-Buford (Assistant Director/Choreographer); Kyra Bowie (Production Stage Manager); Majo Ferrucho (Assistant Stage Manager); and Sarah Patisaul (Assistant Stage Manager).

Casting by Katja Zarolinski, CSA with Associate Casting Director Nathan Francis.

Into the Woods music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim, and book is by James Lapine. The production was originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine, with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Into the Woods is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com.

The Virginia Theatre Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, The Caplin Foundation, The Thomas and Carolyn Witt Foundation, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Drama.

The 2025 Virginia Theatre Festival is also supported by a generous grant from The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. Into the Woods is presented by ArkWise Wealth: An Ameriprise Private Wealth Advisory Practice, Woodard Properties, and Charlottesville Media Group; and supported by Virginia Cenedella.

The 51st Virginia Theatre Festival season will also include the heartwarming, and powerful new comedy The Heart Sellers (July 11-20 in the Helms Theatre) and a tribute to the songs of Judy Garland with Get Happy! – A Celebration of the World’s Greatest Entertainer with Jenna Pastuszek (July 24-27 in the Ruth Caplin Theatre). Tickets for the 2025 season go on sale Tuesday, April 22 at noon. Volunteer opportunities are also available this summer, and more information can be found here.

VTF donors provide essential support to the organization, while enjoying exclusive benefits like complimentary tickets, invitations to special events, behind-the-scenes access, and more. For more information on ways to support the upcoming season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org/support.

For more about the Virginia Theatre Festival and its upcoming 51st season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org.