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INTO THE WOODS is getting a major revival | 2025 production announced for the Bridge Theatre, London
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Mickey Jo
The Bridge is doing a musical. More than life. I wish, I wish to go to the musical. But it isn't my fault. I was given those beans. You persuaded me to trade away Macau for beans. And without those beans, that had been no stalk to get up to the giant in the first place. Wait a minute. Oh my God. Hey. Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel, or hello to you if you are listening on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre and today is a very good news day for me in particular because my favourite musical of all time, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's into the woods, has just been announced as one of the upcoming shows at London's Bridge Theatre. Yes, we are getting a major London revival of into the woods and I have been waiting, I have been wishing for more high profile, major Sondheim productions here in London. And not that we haven't been enjoying a lot of unexpected niche productions of the likes of Roadshow and Pacific Overtures and the Frogs, many of which, you know, we don't see very often. But sue me, I'm also a fan of the big hits. Now. This has just been announced earlier today alongside a return engagement for the Bridges hugely acclaimed and popular production of A Midsummer Night Stream. We're going to talk through all of this news and everything we know so far about this production of into the woods, including the very exciting creative team. So stay tuned. This is a theatre news recap. As always, share all of your thoughts and feelings about this news in the comments section down below. Will you be booking a ticket to see into the Woods? Why would you not be? Are you somebody from outside of the UK who is considering transatlantic or international travel to come and see it? And finally, because I'm nosy, like this, is into the Woods a musical you have seen previously? And which production did you see? If you tell me that was the original Broadway one, I'm going to be in incredibly jealous of you. In any case, plenty for us to talk about. Let's talk about the upcoming shows at the Bridge, including Into the Woods. So I'm reading from the press release and let's first talk about the return of A Midsummer Night's Dream. So this is one of the Bridge Theatre's biggest hits, the immersive production of Midsummer Night's Dream. If you didn't see this in person, you may have seen it streamed online when they were doing their first. I can't remember what the series was called then, if it was called National Theatre at Home but it was various previous National Theatre live broadcasts made available on YouTube for free during lockdown. The production previously featured Gwendoline Christie and it was distinctive for being immersive. Previous to the Bridges very successful and award winning production of the musical Guys and Dolls. This had the audience moving around the space with these different platforms, with these big inflatable bouncy balls being pushed around by audience members like they were at a festival. That was kind of the vibe of this production. I didn't see it in person, I saw that streaming version, but it was joyous and playful and a little bit queer and fun. Made some very interesting choices with the material for Oberon and Titania to kind of subvert the usual direction of the play and give her a little more agency. In any case, it's going to be returning this summer with performances from 31 May to 23 August, running over the summer. A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge. How lovely. How fun. The cast will include JJ Field from Little Disasters, Austenland and Captain America as Oberon Theseus, Susanna Fielding from the Merchant of Venice, and this time with Alan Partridge as Titania Hippolyta. Interestingly enough, I was talking about Susanna Fielding just the other day because she was, I believe, the female lead in American the Musical when it was at the Almeida in a cast which also included the likes of Lucy Jones and Matt Smith and Jonathan Bailey and Katy Braben. A stacked cast. She's also done a lot of screen work. I believe it's been a few years since we've seen her on stage, so that's exciting. The wonderful and hilarious Emmanuel Aquafo is going to be playing bottom credited here for the productions. Boys who have Considered Suicide when the Hue Gets Too Heavy as well as Sex Education, Bert Emmanuel has also been seen regularly in the Lyric Hammersmith Pantomimes as their dame. I Love Emmanuel. So, so Funny will be brilliant in this. And David Morse from Killing Eve and Blitz, who returns to the role of Puck Philostrate. With further casting, of course, to be announced because there are more than four people in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nicholas Heitner will once again be directing with award winning production design by Bunny Christie, costumes by Christina Cunningham, lighting by Bruno Poet, sound design by Paul Arditi, music by Grant Alding and movement by Arlene Phillips. I mean, what a starry creative team. James Cousins is associate director and associate movement director, many of the same creatives who then went on to work together on Guys and Dolls. Very exciting to have this production coming back I love when West End and London theatres bring back the greatest hits for people who missed out on those productions the first time, because we could get so snobby, talking about, well, if you didn't see this production or if you didn't see that. And like, even when Guys and Dolls was happening, everyone was talking about, well, you know, they did this previously with A Midsummer Night's Dream with Julius Caesar. And I think when productions like this come back, when people, places and things came back, when Jerusalem came back, it's exciting. It's a glimpse into the past. It's a sensational encore for these successful shows. I think too often something, especially in the world of plays, you know, doesn't really get to run its full course. Guys and Dolls was the first really extended long run that they did at this venue and that everything was a lot more limited. And the theatre industry is really good at milking musicals for all that they're worth. But sometimes a successful play will run and will get streamed, but there's not a lot else that it can obviously do, especially a production like this, which is hard to transfer and hard to tour because of the nature of the immersive space. But I was a little bit disappointed going back to the Bridge to see Richard ii. Not that it wasn't a good production and I've talked about it recently in a review here on my channel, but just to be sitting in that space when you know that the last three or four times you visited it was for Guys and Dolls and you were moving all around and it unique and exciting knowing that they can do that in the space, why would they ever go back to just doing traditional productions? So I'm very excited that we'll get to do something immersive there. Again, a little bit of information about that. A Midsummer Night's Dream was first produced at the Bridge in 2019. Its immersive format, which allows 400 people to stand close to the action with 670 seats wrapped around, enabled over 100,000 people to see the production six years ago. And it was filmed by ntlive. Standing tickets are from 35 pounds. I wonder if again, they might be available as on the day Rush tickets via Today Ticks, as they were for Guys and Dolls. And I'm hoping as well, a lot of people who maybe stood for the very first time at Guys and Dolls might now feel more empowered to go and stand for an exciting Shakespearean production. I promise you, I've only heard the best things about this show and this particular production, and I really enjoyed watching the stream and I'm glad this has finally been announced because people have been talking about a Midsummer Night Stream coming back to the Bridge for the summer. For a little while now. The thing that we didn't know was happening is into the Woods. Let's talk about my favourite theatre news of the week, of the month, of the year, who even knows? So here is the a major new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Into the woods in a strictly limited 20 week run, opening at the Bridge in December. Let's find those dates. It's going to begin previews from 2nd December and it will be concluding that limited run on 18th April 2026. Or will it? They are calling it Strictly Limited, but we have been lied to before. Some of these productions have turned into longer runs than they were initially scheduled to be. I mean, 20 weeks is a decent chunk of change and it's hard to say commercially how much interest there will be in a Sondheim musical that you know have been critically and artistically successful for decades now, but don't always find commercial success. That being said, if there's a venue where it can, and if there's a time when it can, I think this is ripe to be really quite successful. I think into the woods has become known as one of the most commercial Sondheim's up there with Sweeney Todd. And just to restate it, it is my favourite musical of all time. Anytime I am asked what is your number one show, what is the number one best musical you think has ever been written, the answer is into the Woods. I think it is a brilliant, dark, comic, charming, enchanting masterpiece of a musical. I think it's wonderful. It's the thing that really opened my eyes to what musical theatre twice. First when I watched the pro shot of the original production starring Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleeson, Chip Zine, all of those icons that really taught me about material and about this fusion of darkness and comedy and how smartly written something can be and the extraordinary performances that you can get from that. And then shortly afterwards, when I went to go and see the production by Timothy Sheder at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, of course, staged out outdoors, the same production which would then transfer to New York and Donna Murphy and Amy Adams and Jessie Muller would be in it at the Delacorte Theatre, that taught me all about how malleable a show can be and how you can completely reinterpret something aesthetically, creatively and how this thing that I loved I can then enjoy in a completely different way. And between those two productions I feel like I learned so much about theatre. I feel like that was really my theatrical awakening at the age of like 15. So it's an incredibly special show for me. I've only ever seen it one more time on stage, which was at the Theatre Royal Bath a few years ago in a production that I thought made a lot of strong creative choices, particularly around its design, but ultimately really failed in terms of the characterization. It had fantastic performers who weren't really finding ways to make the material sing and I think the problem was in direction. I did not get to see any iteration of the All Star staged concert version that was first seen at Centre in New York, thereafter at the St James Theatre on Broadway and subsequently touring around the US. I hadn't started visiting New York at that time and I am very sad about it because I would have loved to hear Sara Bareilles or Stephanie J. Block justifying those beans. But that in any case is my history with into the Woods. Let's read a little more about it from this press release. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's collaboration, their second after Sunday in the park with George, brilliantly weaves together four Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a story of a baker and his wife on their quest to reverse a curse of childlessness cast upon them by the wicked witch that is the Wicked witch who lives next door. A huge part of the show's charm is the way that it combines this sort of a current and contemporary sensibility with the world of fairy tales. Joanna Gleason anecdotally refers to the baker and his wife as a more modern couple who maybe moved to like a cheaper area in a bad economy and find themselves surrounded by these slightly baffling and very earnest fairy tale characters. There is Cinderella, there is Jack of Beanstalk fame and his mother and their cow, Milky White, an icon. Little Red Riding Hood is one of their customers because of course she is. Rapunzel is also involved. There are princes who pop up who are charming in name if not in nature, and the musical, just like they said, brilliantly brings them all together in a way of exploring really important themes. If this sounds like it's juvenile and for family and young audiences, it's not inappropriate for those, but it really contends with far more serious and dark conversations. It talks about, you know, how you raise your children and what you share with your children and how much you let them know about the challenges and realities of the world. It uses These very idealistic and morally black and white fairy tale stories to talk about complex philosophical and moral issues. It also talks about dreams and wishes and aspirations and desires and the humanity of all of that. Oh, I love it so much. I am so excited to get to experience it on stage again. I can't tell you how many times I think I am going to go and see this production. When Sunday in the park with George was set to come here with Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, I had about four sets of tickets booked. I was going to go see it on my birthday. I'd booked front row seats. When they refunded all of those during lockdown, I got an extraordinary amount of money back, which was very welcome. But I was devastated we never got to see that production. And this is the first time we have seen into the woods in London, I think since 2016. I think that was when the Beignet Chocolate Factory hosted the Fiasco Theatre production, which sadly I didn't get the chance to see a little bit about the history of the show. Here made its Broadway debut in 1986, winning Tony Awards for Stephen Sondheim and for James Lapine. This press release said that it won Best Musical and I thought that it lost to the Phantom of the Opera, so I'm going to have to fact check this now. I'm so sorry to these people. It did. It did lose to Phantom of the Opera. Joanna Gleeson won a Tony Award, Stephen Sondheim won Best Original Score and James Lapine won Best Book. In London. It has had productions by Richard Jones at the Phoenix Theatre in 1990. That was the UK premiere, John Crowley at the Donmar in 1998 and Timothy Sheder at the Regent's Park Open air Theatre in 2010. Bringing us to this production, let's talk about everything we know about this one. A brand new staging for the Bridge of Sondheim and Lapine's dazzling and moving musical into the Wood, helmed by director Jordan Fine and designer Tom Scutt. If those names are familiar to you, let me tell you why. So Jordan Fine recently directed the beautiful and extraordinary production of Fiddler on the Roof at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre this summer. I saw it right towards the end of its run and if you're wondering, Mickey Cho, why did you not review it for us here on YouTube? I saw it so late in the run that it seemed a little moot by that point. I was very busy with other things at the time, otherwise I would have made time to review It. And also, I was not invited by that production, by that theatre, to go and review it. And so, sort of on principle, it gets a little deprioritized, which is not me snubbing them or being sassy or pretentious or anything like that. It's just a reality of me having a workload and me having four other shows to review that week. I obviously have to give preference to the ones who have invited me explicitly to review and given me a ticket in order to do that. But I did really enjoy this production. That production is coming back to the Barbican. It's subsequently going to go on to a UK tour. And we had seen Fiddler on the Roof done brilliantly in a very classic way only a few years beforehand at the Manier Chocolate Factory, then transferring to the Playhouse Theatre before it was the Kit Kat Club. And so I really went into this production at Regent's park thinking, what else can they do to top such a quintessential perfect version? And it wasn't a bold, edgy reinvention. It wasn't Fiddler on the Roof as seen through a particular concept or a modern perspective. It was just another quintessential classic production that happens to also be brilliant. And encouragingly for this production of into the woods, it created a sort of an enchanting and magical space. It conjured the outdoors very well and travel, and it managed to grapple both with darkness, depth and levity and comedy. And there was an extraordinary amount of creativity and innovation in its staging, all characteristics which I think are essential to a good production of into the Woods. There may be no musical in the world I am quite as specific or harsh about as into the woods, so get ready for me to have a lot of strong feelings about this production. But I'm encouraged. Based on. Based on Jordan Fine's work on Fiddler on the Roof. And Jordan has been right there alongside some of the most interesting and talked about musical revivals of the last few years as an associate director, both on cabaret at the KitKat Club alongside Rebecca Frecknell, a production which I have talked about a lot here on social media and which we all know at this point, I enjoyed very much, as well as the bold and divisive revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, directed by Daniel Fish. And I think the intersection of those productions, as well as Fiddler on the Roof speaks to a real strength of perspective and, you know, a willingness and an eagerness to take a look at material that's been done several different ways and to have a perspective and to have a viewpoint on that and to be able to articulate that clearly, which I think is so important. It's something I feel like I've spoken about a lot recently in reviews. Have something to say with the piece that you're bringing to the stage now? Jordan is joined by another of Cabaret's creative team, Tom Scutt, who I believe also worked on the set design for Fiddler on the Roof, which was an extraordinary set design, but of course was also the set designer for cabaret at the KitKat Club, both in the West End and on Broadway, where the set design won a Tony Award, in which capacity he was responsible not only for the set of the production, but also the entire space, also the two different KitKat clubs, which are both stunning and brilliant. And again, it's very encouraging when it comes to the concept of into the woods at the Bridge, because the burning question here is, is this going to be immersive? They haven't really specified that it will be. They have said that A Midsummer Night's Dream is going to be the immersive A Midsummer Night's Dream, but then we knew that already because it's a return. Into the woods is being called a major new production. You have to assume that they know there is an expectation because of Guys and Dolls, because of that being the most high profile, the most successful show at the venue in its history, a show which put them on the map for a lot of musical theatre fans. People are going to be wandering and possibly even expecting into the woods to be immersive. And I think there is so the capacity for it to be. Can you imagine an into the woods, where we are lost in the woods, moving around this fairy tale space and these different characters are popping up in different places in the woods. I mean, it gives way to it. Do we start with something a little more traditional and then we venture out into the woods when they all travel. I mean, there are so many possibilities. We have seen in the London Palladium pantomime that you can do very exciting things with beanstalks. Now, I think this has the capacity to be the kind of an into the woods that we have always dreamed of. And, you know, I love the outdoor productions, the one that I saw at Regent's park that then went to the Delacorte, because having it framed by all of those trees, having it performed out to the open sky, birds flying around overhead, having darkness and night fall. As we went from the first act to the second, and it shifted tonally, all of that made so much sense for the show, but a version of into the woods that is sprawling and mysterious and we are lost among them. I mean, it's just so exciting. As of right now, I am willing to entirely get my hopes up and say that this could be incredibly special. Possibly the most exciting thing I'm going to see on stage this year and I have to wait until December to see it. Oh, my gosh. Now, casting, they have confirmed, is going to be announced in due course. There are a lot of exciting names that we could throw around in conjunction with this show and, you know, I don't know whether I want to see quintessential traditional casting or whether I want to see something completely unexpected that I wouldn't have predicted. So I'm not going to throw any names out there at this time. I am just going to wait with enthusiasm to find out. And, you know, as soon as we find out more, I'm going to be talking about it here on social media. For now, that, I think, is everything I have to say about A Midsummer Night's Dream returning and into the woods coming to the Bridge. I am thrilled. I am delighted. Tickets are going on sale soon, if not already. Let me give you some helpful information. Both of them go on sale to priority members of the Bridge today. Oh, my gosh. And public booking will open on Friday 28th February at 10am I don't think they're going to sell out necessarily, but when into the woods does go on sale, we will get an understanding of whether or not it's going to be an immersive production because of the seating plan. So that is something to look out for. In the meantime, thank you for listening to this theatre news recap. Let me know all of your thoughts in the comments section down below. Are you as excited as I am? If not, why not? If you've never seen into the woods on stage before, I'm so excited for you to have the opportunity to do so even before it opens. Please book tickets. This is a huge recommendation for me because the material is so great, even a bad production can only go so wrong. And I think this is actually going to be quite good. So make sure you're subscribed with the notifications turned on or following me on podcast platforms, so you don't miss my commentary of this production when it finally comes to the stage later this year. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this and I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a Stagey Day. For 10 more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.