INTO THE WOODS Will Premiere in Oslo June 2018

The nonprofit theatre organization Theater Neuf, will present the first Norwegian large scale production of INTO THE WOODS at Chateau Neuf, Oslo on June 07. It will be directed by Bjørn Birch (Les Misérables), choreographed by Gry-Anita Solheim. Joachim Orseth will serve as musical director.

INTO THE WOODS is the musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from "Little Red Riding Hood" (Tone Ollestad), "Jack and the Beanstalk" (Kasper Nilsson), "Rapunzel" (Karoline H. Strømsrud), and "Cinderella" (Natalie G. Tangen), as well as several others. The musical is tied together by a story involving a childless baker (Philippe Schneider) and his wife (Stina Kastet) and their quest to begin a family, their interaction with a witch (Anette S. Amundsen) who has placed a curse on them, and their interaction with other storybook characters during their journey.

This is the first time INTO THE WOODS has been done on a large stage in Oslo, and the production will have a "fresh" young cast. Most of them have not been involved in a musical of this scale before

Director Bjørn Birch says of the cast: "We will push the actors further than they would demand of themselves, but at the same time make sure no necks gets broken as this will break our own in the process."

Nineteen year old actor Natalie G. Tangen (Cinderella) says she hopes her performance will bring out more of the the character than normally associated with the Disneyesque princess.

"I feel very lucky to portray Cinderella in the first big Norwegian production of 'Into the Woods' and I want to explore the darker aspects of role. I intentionally did not see the movie before I auditioned to be sure that I would put my own 'spin' on it"

Producer Marianne Lindbeck says "I am very proud to part of this amazing team. It has been a hard struggle to bring this amazing piece to the stage, with many hurdles along the way. But now we are finally ready for Norwegian audiences. It will be something they haven't seen before. Anything can happen in the woods" she laughs.

The production will be reviewed at a later date.

Photos: Lillian Julsvik, Costumes: Petra Gjørvad, Make up: Elisabrth Nyheim
Sources: Hadeland Avis