Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre-Media Centre
4 1/2 STARS “A thrillingly fun stage musical” – Winnipeg Free Press

One of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular musicals, Into the Woods follows a mash-up of fairy tale characters in pursuit of happy ever after. Their wishful thinking takes them deep into the woods where the wrong path can lead to very dark corners. Will their choices come back to haunt them? Featuring a beautifully complex and enchanting score, including the songs Children Will Listen, Stay With Me and No One is Alone, this Tony Award-winning musical is a rare modern classic.
 

Click on the images to download the digital program and enrichment guide:

22-23-Ovation3-Cover.jpg ITWGuideCover.jpg

 
Warnings: 
Theatrical fog & haze, strobe effects; fantasy violence; while characters may be familiar, themes and events are dark. Recommended for ages 12+.


Running time: 
Approx. 3 hours (including intermission)



Production sponsored by:
Gail Asper Family FoundationThe Asper Foundation

Opening Night sponsor:




Cast & Crew

Production
Stephen Sondheim photo
Stephen Sondheim

Music & Lyrics

Music & Lyrics Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim photo

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night (1954), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994) and Road Show (2008) as well as lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959) and Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Anthologies of his work include Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me a Little (1981), You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together (1993/99) and Sondheim on Sondheim (2010). He composed the scores of the films Stavisky (1974) and Reds (1981) and songs for Dick Tracy (1990) and the television production Evening Primrose (1966). His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: Finishing the Hat (2010) and Look, I Made A Hat (2011). In 2010 Broadway’s Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in his honour; in 2019, London’s Queens Theatre was also renamed the Sondheim.

Book James Lapine
James Lapine photo

James Lapine

James Lapine is a playwright and director. On Broadway he has worked with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and Passion. He also conceived and directed the musical review Sondheim on Sondheim. With William Finn he created Falsettos, recently revived by Lincoln Center Theater; Little Miss Sunshine, Muscle, and directed Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other Broadway credits include his play based on Moss Hart’s memoir Act One (also LCT), Amour, The Diary of Anne Frank, Golden Child and Dirty Blonde. He has written the plays Table Settings, Twelve Dreams, The Moment When, Fran’s Bed and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing. Lapine has been nominated for 11 Tony Awards, winning on three occasions. He has also been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, SDC’s Mr. Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater and inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Kelly Thornton photo
Kelly Thornton

Director

Director Kelly Thornton
Kelly Thornton photo

Kelly Thornton

ROYAL MTC Orlando, All is Bright, Bang Bang (with Belfry).

OTHER THEATRE Eighteen years as Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, where credits include Unholy, The Penelopiad, Between the Sheets, The List, That Face, The Danish Play (NAC, Aveny-Teatret, Copenhagen; Magnetic North), Bear With Me, Mathilde and China Doll. Elsewhere: Vigil (TiFT); Comedy of Errors (CS); This Hotel (Theatre Passe Muraille); and nine seasons of Nightwood’s Lawyer Show.

TEACHING Associate Director of the Directing Program at National Theatre School 2010-2013. Guest Instructor at University of Toronto Graduate Centre for Drama, and Sheridan College.

ET CETERA Kelly is Royal MTC’s Artistic Director. She’s been honoured with the Pauline McGibbon Award, the YWCA Woman of Distinction, a Harold Award, and Dora and Evie Award nominations. She wishes to thank her incredible family for their love and support.

Andrew St. Hilaire photo
Andrew St. Hilaire

Music Director

Music Director Andrew St. Hilaire
Andrew St. Hilaire photo

Andrew St. Hilaire

ROYAL MTC Billy Elliot the Musical, Cabaret, Next to Normal, White Christmas, The Boys in the Photograph (with Mirvish), The Drowsy Chaperone (with TC), The Rocky Horror Show (with CS).

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, The Color Purple, Mamma Mia!, Crazy For You (Citadel); The Wizard of Oz, The Hockey Sweater, Les Misérables, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, West Side Story, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Annie, Footloose, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, RENT, The Producers, Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music (Rainbow); Mary Poppins, Les Misérables (WCT); The Addams Family (Dry Cold); Mary Poppins (Persephone); Carousel, Parade (Opera NUOVA).

Jillian Willems photo
Jillian Willems

Choreographer

Choreographer Jillian Willems
Jillian Willems photo

Jillian Willems

ROYAL MTC Director/Choreographer: The World Goes ‘Round (Lawyers Play). Mainstage debut.

OTHER THEATRE Select creative credits: The Snail and the Whale (Director – MTYP); Guys & Dolls (Director – WSO/Rainbow); The Golem’s Mighty Swing (Assistant Director – WJT/Outside the March); Pippin (Choreographer – The ViC/WST); American Idiot (WST). Select performance credits: Antigone (Understudy – Sick + Twisted/AA Battery); Cinderella (Rainbow); South Pacific (WSO/Rainbow); Charlie Brown (MTYP); South Pacific (Regina Symphony); Heathers (WST).

TRAINING/TEACHING Artistic associate and movement instructor with the Village Conservatory for Music Theatre. Teacher at Industria Dance Centre. Mentored by Ari Weinberg in theatre management and by Brenda Gorlick in musical theatre choreography.

ET CETERA Endless gratitude to my family, friends and community who always guide me through the woods.

Gillian Gallow photo
Gillian Gallow

Set & Costume Designer

Set & Costume Designer Gillian Gallow
Gillian Gallow photo

Gillian Gallow

ROYAL MTC The Runner (with Human Cargo), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, A Christmas Carol, Hand to God, Million Dollar Quartet, Seminar (with Mirvish), Hirsch, Venus in Fur, God of Carnage (with VP), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with TC).

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Hadrian and Louis Riel (COC); Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Physicists, Hirsch, The Three Musketeers (Stratford); An Octoroon, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Russian Play, The Devil’s Disciple (Shaw); Art, August: Osage County, Idomeneus, Orlando (Soulpepper); King Lear, Stuff Happens (NAC). Upcoming: The Shadow of a Doubt and Mahabharata (Shaw).

ET CETERA Awards: Gillian is the recipient of the 2021 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, the 2018 Viriginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design and she has been awarded four Doras.

Joseph Abetria photo
Joseph Abetria

Associate Costume Designer

Associate Costume Designer Joseph Abetria
Joseph Abetria photo

Joseph Abetria

ROYAL MTC Costume Designer: Calpurnia, Tiny Plays, Big Ideas, Bang Bang (with Belfry), Last Train to Nibroc (tour). Apprentice Costume Designer: Billy Elliot the Musical. 2020/21 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE (selected) Costume Designer: Grand Ghost (The Grand); Voice (PTE); Plé (Plé Collective presented by MTYP); Spelling 2-5-5 (MTYP); Women of the Fur Trade (Vault Projects); Mary’s Wedding, Iceland (TPM); Concord Floral, Vinegar Tom, The Laramie Project (U of W). Production Designer: The Player King (SIR); The Game, Two Indians (Sarasvàti). Assistant Costume Designer: Othello, The Neverending Story, The Rocky Horror Show, Romeo and Juliet (Stratford).

TRAINING University of Winnipeg.

Hugh Conacher photo
Hugh Conacher

Lighting Designer

Lighting Designer Hugh Conacher
Hugh Conacher photo

Hugh Conacher

ROYAL MTC (selected) Video Designer: Network. Lighting & Video Designer: The Mountaintop, Vietgone, Venus in Fur. Lighting Designer: New, Calpurnia, Orlando, All is Bright, Women of the Fur Trade, Fun Home, The Color Purple (with Citadel), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Seminar (with Mirvish), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and many other productions since the ‘80s. 

OTHER THEATRE Hugh has collaborated with choreographers, visual artists and dance and theatre companies worldwide. 

ET CETERA Hugh enjoys working beyond the constraints of traditional lighting design using various forms of interactive media, video and photography. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide. Hugh is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and L’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec. www.pellucid.me.

Chris Coyne photo
Chris Coyne

Sound Designer

Sound Designer Chris Coyne
Chris Coyne photo

Chris Coyne

ROYAL MTC Calpurnia, The (Post) Mistress, The Mountaintop, Fun Home, Kill Me Now (with NAC), The Hound of the Baskervilles 2016 (Tour). Technical Director at the John Hirsch Mainstage (2018-2022).

OTHER THEATRE Chris has had the pleasure of working with many local and international theatre groups. Credits include Routes 2016/17 Tour (MTYP); The Hound of the Baskervilles Mar. 2015, Little Thing Big Thing Sept. 2015 (PTE); EDEN 2013 (Sarasvàti); Bashir Lazhar Mar. 2013 (TPM); Angels in America 2012, Perestroika 2014 (WJT); Three Sisters 2011 (zone41).

TRAINING Chris is a graduate of the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology.

ET CETERA Chris has been involved in the theatre industry in Winnipeg for many years. Currently working as Royal MTC’s Head of Sound at the John Hirsch Mainstage.

Jacquie Loewen photo
Jacquie Loewen

Fight Director

Fight Director Jacquie Loewen
Jacquie Loewen photo

Jacquie Loewen

ROYAL MTC Fight Director (selected): The Rez Sisters, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (with Arts Club/Citadel), Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), Hand to God, Private Lives, Gone With the Wind, August: Osage County, Romeo and Juliet, The Seafarer. Actor: The Three Musketeers, Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Top Girls. 

OTHER THEATRE Fight Director (selected): Macbeth (Bard on the Beach); Indigenous Playwrights New Works Workshop (PTC – Vancouver); Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow); The Flood Thereafter (CS); Don Giovanni (Manitoba Opera); Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew (SIR); Prairie Nurse (PTE).

TEACHING U of Winnipeg, U of Manitoba, Trinity Western, Simon Fraser University, Kansas State University.

ET CETERA Jacqueline was a founding member of the Canadian Comedy Award-nominated sketch group Hot Thespian Action.

Sharon Bajer photo
Sharon Bajer

Intimacy Director

Intimacy Director Sharon Bajer
Sharon Bajer photo

Sharon Bajer

ROYAL MTC (selected) Intimacy Director: New. Actor: The Three Musketeers, Sense and Sensibility, Kill Me Now (with NAC), Hand to God, Late Company, The Seagull, A Christmas Story, August: Osage County, Top Girls, Steel Magnolias, Humble Boy, Of Mice and Men, Angels in America, Les Belles-Soeurs, Our Country’s Good.

OTHER THEATRE The Outside Inn (Premiere – Festival Antigonish); The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); coming up Afterlight (Premiere – The Keep and Walk&Talk). 

TRAINING Studio 58, Michael Langham Directing Program (Stratford). Certified Intimacy Director and Coordinator with Intimacy Coordinators Canada and Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (New York).

FILM/TV Recent projects include Dark Harvest, Ordinary Angels, Acting Good, Little Bird, Run; Intimacy Coordinator for The Porter, SkyMed, Wintertide, El Toro and Alter Boys.

ET CETERA sharonbajer.com

Rebekah Jones photo
Rebekah Jones

Assistant Director / Assistant Choreographer

Assistant Director / Assistant Choreographer Rebekah Jones
Rebekah Jones photo

Rebekah Jones

ROYAL MTC Assistant Director: Fun Home. Actor: Lesley in Billy Elliot the Musical.

OTHER THEATRE Actor: The Wizard of Oz, Mamma Mia! (Rainbow). Choreographer: The Prom (Dry Cold). Apprentice / Assistant Director / Choreographer: A Man of No Importance, The Addams Family, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Dry Cold); Les Misérables, Shrek the Musical (Rainbow); Heathers, Avenue Q (WST).

TRAINING/TEACHING Completed the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Teacher Training Program (2007) and Rainbow Stage Creative Mentorship Program for Choreography (2016). Currently teaches at Kickit Dance Studio.

ET CETERA Many thanks to my family and the Kickit Directors for their continued support.

Phil Corrin photo
Phil Corrin

Assistant Music Director

Assistant Music Director Phil Corrin
Phil Corrin photo

Phil Corrin

ROYAL MTC First engagement. Upcoming: 9 to 5 The Musical (Lawyers Play).

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Silence! The Musical (Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival); Annie, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia!, Little Shop of Horrors (Rainbow); A Chorus Line (WSO); School of Rock, Avenue Q (WST).

TRAINING Brandon University, University of Calgary.

ET CETERA Phil taught music for 25 years in the Seven Oaks School Division. Into the Woods marks his 66th musical theatre production. He’s excited and scared!

Michael Duggan photo
Michael Duggan

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Michael Duggan
Michael Duggan photo

Michael Duggan

ROYAL MTC (selected) Stage Manager: New, Calpurnia (with NAC/BTW), Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), Hand to God. Assistant Stage Manager: The Mountaintop, The Color Purple (with Citadel), A Christmas Carol, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (with Citadel), Chimerica.

OTHER THEATRE (selected) The Wizard of Oz (2022), Mamma Mia! (Rainbow Stage); The War Being Waged (PTE); The Winter’s Tale / Le conte d’hiver (SIR/TCM); MTYP’s Midwinter Mosey (MTYP); The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (WJT); Meet Me at Dawn (TBTR). 

TRAINING B.A. (Hons) in Theatre Production and Stage Management at the University of Winnipeg.

ET CETERA Enjoy the show!

Zahra Larche photo
Zahra Larche

Assistant Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager Zahra Larche
Zahra Larche photo

Zahra Larche

ROYAL MTC Assistant Stage Manager: Network (with Citadel), Calpurnia (with NAC/BTW), Bang Bang (with Belfry). Apprentice Stage Manager: Buying the Farm (tour), Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), The Humans. Assistant Production Manager (2017/18, 2020/21, 2021/22 seasons).

OTHER THEATRE (selected) Stage Manager: The Hockey Sweater (Rainbow). Various credits with Hudson Village Theatre, Cart Before the Horse, Manitoba Opera, Geordie Productions and A Company of Fools.

TRAINING Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada – Production Program (2017).

ET CETERA A very special thanks to my Royal MTC family, my parents, my family and friends from Gatineau to Tasmania, Ilana Modulevsky, Brooklyne Alexander, my graduating class at NTS, and all the wonderful folks who made this show possible!

Katie Schmidt photo
Katie Schmidt

Assistant Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager Katie Schmidt
Katie Schmidt photo

Katie Schmidt

ROYAL MTC Assistant Stage Manager: The Runner. Apprentice Stage Manager: The Cottage, A Doll’s House, Sense and Sensibility. Apprentice Costumer: Sarah Ballenden.

OTHER THEATRE Assistant Stage Manager: The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); Bad Parent, VOICE (PTE). Apprentice Stage Manager: Ghost Light (PTE). Stage Manager: Frozen River, Tiny Treasures (MTYP). Costumer: Mary’s Wedding (TPM). Props and Set Coordinator: Much Ado About Nothing, The Player King, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Romeo and Juliet (SIR).

TRAINING University of Winnipeg Theatre and Film.

ET CETERA Thanks and love to Mom, Dad, Raya and Felix.

Samantha Desiree photo
Samantha Desiree

Apprentice Stage Manager

Apprentice Stage Manager Samantha Desiree
Samantha Desiree photo

Samantha Desiree

ROYAL MTC Network, The Rez Sisters, Orlando.

OTHER THEATRE SM: Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers Season Launch and upcoming new work; People, Places and Things (U of W). Apprentice SM: The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow). Production & Tour Coordinator: Seven Visions digital school tour (Sarasvàti). Associate Producer/Sound Design: Othello (Echo). SM/Production Assistant: FemFest 2019 & 2020 (Sarasvàti).Designer: Seascape with Sharks and Dancer (Beau). Director/Designer: Wait, So Do I… (Buried Seeds); Animosity (DownsideUp); The Student Body Project, Tuesdays & Sundays, Women of Manhattan (Beau). Associate Company Member of Winnipeg Independent Theatre (WIT). Artistic Founder of Beau Theatre Co.

TRAINING U of W Bachelor of Arts Honours – Stage Management, Production and Design. Creative Manitoba Mentorship in Stage Management. Upcoming mentorship with Associated Designers of Canada in Lighting Design on Narrow Bridge (WJT).

ET CETERA As always, couldn’t do it without my partner, Matt, and cat, Zella.

Cast
Vinnie Alberto photo
Vinnie Alberto

Rapunzel’s Prince / Steward

Rapunzel’s Prince / Steward Vinnie Alberto
Vinnie Alberto photo

Vinnie Alberto

ROYAL MTC 2022/23 National Mentorship Program (with Kimberley Rampersad). Actor: Cory and Daisy (Pimootayowin: A Festival of New Work). 

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Sky in Mamma Mia! (Drayton); The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); Destination Wedding! (Musical Stage Co.); Twelfth Night: Musical, Working Title (Theatre Sheridan).

TRAINING Graduate of Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance. 

ET CETERA Vinnie could not be happier to be making his Royal MTC debut with this beautiful cast and crew! As a Métis artist himself, Vinnie is grateful to have been taught and mentored by some of the nation’s leading fellow BIPOC artists. Vinnie is the recipient of Musical Stage Co.’s Banks Prize award for emerging musical theatre artists. He would like to send a special thank you to Royal MTC, Kelly, his dear friends, family, 10 Talent, Ray and Kimberley. Instagram: @vinniealberto 

Mariam Bernstein photo
Mariam Bernstein

Jack’s Mother

Jack’s Mother Mariam Bernstein
Mariam Bernstein photo

Mariam Bernstein

ROYAL MTC Actor: Alice Through the Looking-Glass, The Heidi Chronicles, Mrs. Klein, Les Belles-Soeurs. Director: Romeo and Juliet (‘94), The Things We Do For Love.

OTHER THEATRE (selected) Actor: Becoming Dr. Ruth, Angels in America Parts 1 & 2 (WJT); Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods (Dry Cold); Selkirk Avenue (PTE/Magnus); Spring Awakening (WST); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Neptune). Director: Dieu de Carnage (TCM); Falsettos, Death of a Salesman, Speed-the-Plow (WJT); Company, The Secret Garden (Dry Cold).

TRAINING/TEACHING Graduate: National Theatre School of Canada; U of W. Theatre educator and acting coach for over 30 years.

ET CETERA For Miranda, Cinna and my parents, and with profound gratitude to Stephen Sondheim.

Rochelle Kives photo
Rochelle Kives

Lucinda / Understudy Baker’s Wife

Lucinda / Understudy Baker’s Wife Rochelle Kives
Rochelle Kives photo

Rochelle Kives

ROYAL MTC Calpurnia, Where.Are.You.From. (Tiny Plays, Big Ideas). 2021/22 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE Most recent: The Hockey Sweater, Ma-Buhay Workshop, Miss Saigon, South Pacific, Little Shop of Horrors (Rainbow); 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, Precipice (WJT); Elizabeth Rex (Bunbury Productions); A Year with Frog and Toad (MTYP); South Pacific (WSO); Kiss of the Spider Woman (Dry Cold); South Pacific (Regina Symphony Orchestra).

FILM/TV A Kiss Before Christmas (Hallmark); Larry Saves The Canadian Health Care System (Tripwire Media Group); Not Funny (Imaginary Productions).

TRAINING Graduate of Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre Performance Program.

ET CETERA Rochelle is co-founder and producer of the vocal group UNIQUE3, who travel and perform on cruise ships all over the world. Huge thank you to Royal MTC for this opportunity!

Sarah Luby photo
Sarah Luby

Rapunzel

Rapunzel Sarah Luby
Sarah Luby photo

Sarah Luby

ROYAL MTC 2020/21 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Antigone (Sick + Twisted); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Bridges of Madison County (Dry Cold); Mamma Mia!, The Sound of Music, South Pacific (Rainbow); Featured soloist (WSO); Werther, Falstaff (MB Opera).

FILM/TV Selected: Orphan: First Kill (eOne/ Dark Castle); The Disappearance of Cari Farver, Let’s Meet Again on Christmas Eve (Lifetime); Burden of Truth (CBC); The Spencer Sisters (CTV); SkyMed (Paramount+). 

TRAINING Desautels Faculty of Music – BMus. Vocal Performance.

ET CETERA Sarah is extremely honoured and humbled to be part of Royal MTC’s production of Into the Woods. A lover of Sondheim, Sarah cannot think of a better production to welcome audiences back to the theatre and remind them that “no one is alone.” Thank you to director Kelly Thornton and music director Andrew St. Hilaire for their fearless leadership. 

Witch Jennifer Lyon
Jennifer Lyon photo

Jennifer Lyon

ROYAL MTC All is Bright, The Cottage, A Doll’s House, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Myth of the Ostrich, Billy Elliot the Musical, The Secret Annex, A Christmas Story, The Penelopiad, Next to Normal, White Christmas, Pride and Prejudice, Guys and Dolls (with TC/Citadel), My Fair Lady, A Christmas Carol – The Musical, Steel Magnolias (1993). Assistant Director: The Fighting Days.

OTHER THEATRE Selected leading roles: Jacques Brel (PTE); The Drowsy Chaperone (Globe); Spamalot (Drayton); Guys and Dolls (TiFT); The Road to Hell (Persephone); My Fair Lady (Arts Club); Skylight (TNB); Comet in Moominland (MTYP/YPT/Montreal/Broadway); 19 shows at Rainbow Stage; The Who’s Tommy (Mirvish/Toronto/Canadian Tour); Man of La Mancha, The Miracle Worker (Stratford Festival, as an understudy who went on for the lead. Now, that’s a story.).

Jawon Mapp photo
Jawon Mapp

Baker

Baker Jawon Mapp
Jawon Mapp photo

Jawon Mapp

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Crack of Doom (Toronto Fringe Festival); Killing Time: A Game Show Musical (Hamilton Fringe Festival); Twelfth Night (St. Clair College); West Side Story (Windsor Symphony Orchestra); Going Under, Drama 101 (New Music Theatre Intensives). Upcoming: The Amen Corner, A Grand Night for Singing, The Game of Love and Chance (Shaw).

TRAINING Graduate of St. Clair College’s Musical Theatre Performance Program 2020.

ET CETERA Jawon is thrilled to be making his Royal MTC debut with an exceptional show and equally exceptional role! All thanks to Kelly and Andrew for believing in my truth! Grateful to everyone who has helped me to grow into the artist I am today!

“Don't get it right, get it true!”
      – Stephen McKinley Henderson

Instagram: jmoneyswagswag

Clea McCaffrey photo
Clea McCaffrey

Little Red Ridinghood

Little Red Ridinghood Clea McCaffrey
Clea McCaffrey photo

Clea McCaffrey

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Sam/Lucy in The Written in Blood Trilogy (TiFT); Grow (Grand); Dynamites in Hairspray (TA); Sister Act, Jan in Grease (Drayton); Rumspringa Break! (Next Stage Festival); Mabel Washington in Fame (Creativiva Dubai).

TV Y: The Last Man.

TRAINING Graduate of St. Clair College.

ET CETERA Driven by healing through raising marginalized voices and representing those who ever felt like an outcast, Clea is unapologetically her. XO to the real ones, TH and baby. Life’s too short, eat the #stickybun… or four!

Laura Olafson photo
Laura Olafson

Florinda / Understudy Witch

Florinda / Understudy Witch Laura Olafson
Laura Olafson photo

Laura Olafson

ROYAL MTC Fun Home, Million Dollar Quartet, Private Lives, The Things We Do For Love, Harvey.

OTHER THEATRE Funny Girl, Falsettos, Intimate Apparel (WJT); Footloose, Joe’s Coat, Mary Poppins, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls: In Concert, Cinderella, Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); Urinetown, A Man of No Importance (Dry Cold); The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet (SIR); Iceland, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (TPM); Into the Woods, Tigers Be Still (District Theatre Collective); The Savannah Disputation (PTE); Skriker (Echo (Beach) Theatre).

FILM/TV Pumpkin Everything (Cartel); SkyMed (CBC/Paramount+); The Pinkertons (Buffalo Gals).

TRAINING/TEACHING Laura graduated from Grant MacEwan University’s Theatre Arts program. She also works as an EA in WSD1’s Inclusion Support programs.

ET CETERA Laura is an Evie award winner. For Sid.

Tracy Penner photo
Tracy Penner

Cinderella’s Mother / Granny / Giant

Cinderella’s Mother / Granny / Giant Tracy Penner
Tracy Penner photo

Tracy Penner

ROYAL MTC It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Private Lives, The Seagull, Ed’s Garage, Top Girls, Camelot (with Citadel/TC).

OTHER THEATRE Selected theatre in Edmonton: Shoe! (Vault: Theatre of Invention); A Year of Winter (Shadow); Frankenstein (Catalyst); Three Mysterious Women (StageLab Festival, U of A). Selected theatre in Winnipeg: A Short History of Crazy Bone, John and Beatrice, The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz (TPM); Shiksa (WJT); Village Wooing (zone41); Passion (Red Hen); Fefu and Her Friends, Eden (Sarasvàti); Awaken, a new play by Tracy Penner, featuring Tracy as Paulina (zone41/SIR). Most recently, Tracy played Miss Shingle in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Dry Cold).

FILM/TV Spencer Sisters, Pumpkin Everything, Somebody’s Someone, The Grudge, Scopophobia, Cemetery Love Story.

TRAINING Graduate of the BFA Acting Program at the University of Alberta.

Jade Repeta photo
Jade Repeta

Baker’s Wife

Baker’s Wife Jade Repeta
Jade Repeta photo

Jade Repeta

ROYAL MTC Cabaret, Billy Elliot the Musical.

OTHER THEATRE Damn Yankees, Chitra (Shaw); Hairspray, Freaky Friday, Prom Queen workshop (TA); Portrait of a Collaboration: Little Pinks (Stratford/Alan Menken); The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Footloose, Hairspray, The Sound of Music (Rainbow); Mary Poppins (YPT); Beauty and the Beast, Rock of Ages, All Shook Up, Footloose, Marathon of Hope, Anne of Green Gables (Drayton); Shrek (Globe); Mary Poppins (Neptune).

TV Less Than Kind, Season 2 (HBO Canada); Noonbory (Dacapo).

TRAINING Graduate with Honours of Sheridan College’s Music Theatre Performance Program.

ET CETERA Dora Mavor Nomination for Mrs. Brill in Mary Poppins (YPT). Thank you to family, friends and the TH gang for the unending support. No one is alone. ♥

Cinderella Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu
Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu photo

Rhea Rodych-Rasidescu

ROYAL MTC 2022/23 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE Tuck Everlasting (Opera NUOVA); The Recipe (MAP Workshop); People, Places and Things, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Arcadia (U of W); Bake-Off (Sarasvàti: FemFest); Ok, Probably (Sister From Another Mister/Winnipeg Fringe); Women of Manhattan (Beau Theatre Co/Royal MTC ShanleyFest).

TRAINING BAH Acting University of Winnipeg, Creative Manitoba’s Mentorship Program, Opera NUOVA Emerging Artist Program, Rainbow Stage’s Acting Intensive.

ET CETERA Rhea is also a dialect and accent coach; her most recent credit being Frozen River/nîkwatin sîpiy (MTYP). She is a proud recipient of the Jean Murray-Moray Sinclair Scholarship. Thank you Kelly, Andrew and the entire company for our adventures in the woods, and my friends and family for your love and support.

Ray Strachan photo
Ray Strachan

Narrator / Mysterious Man

Narrator / Mysterious Man Ray Strachan
Ray Strachan photo

Ray Strachan

ROYAL MTC The Three Musketeers, Calpurnia, The Mountaintop, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Shakespeare in Love (with Citadel), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Romeo and Juliet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with TC).

OTHER THEATRE Director: The Velveteen Rabbit (MTYP). Actor: The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow Stage); The Tempest (Citadel); *Deserter, Remember the Night (Moving Target); *The Whipping Man (WJT). 
*Evie Award Winner.

FILM/TV The Porter (CBC Gem/BET); Violent Night, Vandits.

ET CETERA Ray is also co-host of the Ray & Benny Talk Sports podcast. You can find it on YouTube and on your preferred podcast platforms. @raybennysports on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

To Chris Johnson

Melanie Whyte photo
Melanie Whyte

Cinderella’s Stepmother

Cinderella’s Stepmother Melanie Whyte
Melanie Whyte photo

Melanie Whyte

ROYAL MTC The Audience (with Mirvish).

OTHER THEATRE Selected: The Light in the Piazza, A Man of No Importance, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music (Dry Cold); Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Timon of Athens (SIR); Cinderella, Sister Act, The Full Monty (Rainbow); Fly Me to the Moon, Till It Hurts (PTE); Spelling 2-5-5 (MTYP); The Game, Miss N’ Me (Sarasvàti); Sunday in the Park with George (Gallery Works).

FILM/TV Larry Saves the Healthcare System (Research MB/Tripwire); Burden of Truth (CBC/Eagle Vision).

TRAINING BMus (UBC) Diploma Program (Film and Theatre School Vancouver).

ET CETERA Melanie teaches singing in Winnipeg and online, is a member of the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir, which is really a band, and shares her love of Sondheim’s work with her family – Emma, Andrew and Paul – love to you all!

Tenaj Williams photo
Tenaj Williams

Cinderella’s Prince / Wolf

Cinderella’s Prince / Wolf Tenaj Williams
Tenaj Williams photo

Tenaj Williams

ROYAL MTC Network (with Citadel), The Color Purple (with Citadel).

OTHER THEATRE Ragtime: A Concert Performance, A Christmas Carol (TC); Clue, Cipher (Vertigo Theatre); The Fianceé (Citadel); Sweat (TA); The Color Purple (Neptune); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Charlotte’s Web (ATP); King Lear, Macbeth (Shakespeare Company); Naughty But Nice (Forte); Sextet (Verb).

FILM/TV JANN (CTV/Hulu); Wynonna Earp (Sci-Fyi); Big Sky (NBC); Meet Me at Christmas (Hallmark).

ET CETERA Recipient of the Lieutenant Governor General Award 2022.

Jack Chase Winnicky
Chase Winnicky photo

Chase Winnicky

ROYAL MTC 2021/22 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); Kiss of the Spiderwoman, The Addams Family (Dry Cold); Alice in Wonderland – the Panto (Diversified Theatre); Much Ado about Nothing (Dauntless City Theatre); Andy Warhol Musical (Mirvish workshop); The Nutcrack-er (National Ballet of Canada); Oceania Cruises. Assistant Director: Million Dollar Quartet (TC – Betty Mitchell & Calgary Theatre Critics Award nominations). Upcoming: Directing the Canadian Premiere of The Prom (Dry Cold).

FILM/TV A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe, ’Tis the Season to be Merry, Crashing through the Snow (Hallmark); SkyMed (Paramount+); The Porter (CBC/BET+).

TRAINING Randolph College for the Performing Arts.

ET CETERA This performance is dedicated to his giants in the sky – Velma and Darlene. chasewinnicky.com @chase_winnicky

Matthew Fletcher photo
Matthew Fletcher

Standby — Jack, Cinderella’s Prince / Wolf, Rapunzel’s Prince / Steward

Standby — Jack, Cinderella’s Prince / Wolf, Rapunzel’s Prince / Steward Matthew Fletcher
Matthew Fletcher photo

Matthew Fletcher

ROYAL MTC Shakespeare in Love (with Citadel).

OTHER THEATRE Antigone (Sick+Twisted/AA Battery); The Hockey Sweater, Les Misérables (Rainbow); Grease (Winter Garden); Million Dollar Quartet (Port Hope); James and the Giant Peach (MTYP); Kiss of the Spider Woman, A Man of No Importance (Dry Cold); Spring Awakening (Griffin); Heathers (WST); Les Misérables (Drayton); Crazy for You (TBTB).

FILM/TV Champions, The Porter, The Pinkertons, Triple Sensation.

TRAINING Northwestern University, Soulpepper Training Room, Rainbow Stage Conservatory.

ET CETERA Love to my friends and family. <3 Rest In Paradise, Stephen! @mcwfletcher

Katie German photo
Katie German

Standby — Little Red Ridinghood, Jack’s Mother, Cinderella’s Stepmother, Cinderella’s Mother / Granny / Giant

Standby — Little Red Ridinghood, Jack’s Mother, Cinderella’s Stepmother, Cinderella’s Mother / Granny / Giant Katie German
Katie German photo

Katie German

ROYAL MTC The Rez Sisters. Assistant Program Director of the Pimootayowin Creators Circle. Assistant Director: The (Post) Mistress. Mentee in the 2020/21 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE Midwinter Mosey, A Year with Frog and Toad, Seussical The Musical (MTYP); The Hockey Sweater, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, South Pacific (Rainbow Stage); Evil Dead The Musical, The Last Five Years, The Rocky Horror Show (Wasteland Productions); Sweeney Todd (Dry Cold Productions).

TV Wolf Joe (Media RendezVous/Big Jump Media Inc.).

TRAINING Graduate of Grant MacEwan University, Theatre Performance.

ET CETERA Katie is a mother to two beautiful kids who challenge and encourage her to be a better human and is also the owner and director of Junior Musical Theatre Company (JMTC). Miigwetch.

Emily Meadows  photo
Emily Meadows

Standby — Rapunzel, Cinderella, Lucinda, Florinda

Standby — Rapunzel, Cinderella, Lucinda, Florinda Emily Meadows
Emily Meadows  photo

Emily Meadows

ROYAL MTC 2021/22 National Mentorship Program. Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.

OTHER THEATRE A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Dry Cold); Reefer Madness (WST); Stronger Together: Opening Doors to Mental Health (Suitcase Theatre); The Dream Catchers (Charlottetown Festival YoCo/Eastern Canada touring company); We All Got Lost (Hamilton Fringe); The Last 48 (Winnipeg Fringe); world premiere of Senza Luce (Theatre Sheridan); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Rainbow).

FILM/TV Kara Robinson Story, Safehaven.

TRAINING Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance from Sheridan; the Second City Conservatory Programme for Improv and Sketch Comedy, Toronto.

ET CETERA Grateful five-time Royal MTC Jean Murray-Moray Sinclair Scholarship winner; recipient of the Elizabeth Mawson-Maud Whitmore scholarship for voice. Thank you to Royal MTC, my supportive family and friends, especially mom, dad and Josh.

Justin Stadnyk  photo
Justin Stadnyk

Standby — Baker, Narrator / Mysterious Man

Standby — Baker, Narrator / Mysterious Man Justin Stadnyk
Justin Stadnyk  photo

Justin Stadnyk

ROYAL MTC As You Like It (with Citadel), Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (with Arts Club/Citadel), Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, White Christmas, The Boys in the Photograph (with Mirvish), Fiddler on the Roof, The Wave.

OTHER THEATRE Kinky Boots (Mirvish); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Dry Cold); Dear Jack, Dear Louise, Falsettos (WJT); Pal Joey, Into the Woods (TIFT); Saturday Night Fever (National Tour); Hairspray, Camelot, The Mikado (Drayton); Rock Legends, Footloose (Chemainus); Mamma Mia!, Legally Blonde, Blood Brothers (TA); Anne of Green Gables, Ring of Fire, The Full Monty (Charlottetown); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Rent (Rainbow); Robin Hood, Cinderella (Ross Petty).

TV King of the Camp (YTV).

ET CETERA Thank you for continuing to support the arts! Say hi to Justin @j_stadnyk. justinstadnyk.com

Production ID: 30266
Start Date: 1/10/2023 12:10:03 PM
End Date: 2/4/2023 12:10:11 PM
Title: Into the Woods
Playwright: Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally directed on Broadway
by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Billing: Directed by Kelly Thornton
Warnings: Theatrical fog & haze, strobe effects; fantasy violence; while characters may be familiar, themes and events are dark. Recommended for ages 12+.
Synopsis: 4 1/2 STARS “A thrillingly fun stage musical” – Winnipeg Free Press

One of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular musicals, Into the Woods follows a mash-up of fairy tale characters in pursuit of happy ever after. Their wishful thinking takes them deep into the woods where the wrong path can lead to very dark corners. Will their choices come back to haunt them? Featuring a beautifully complex and enchanting score, including the songs Children Will Listen, Stay With Me and No One is Alone, this Tony Award-winning musical is a rare modern classic.
 

Click on the images to download the digital program and enrichment guide:

22-23-Ovation3-Cover.jpg ITWGuideCover.jpg

 
Facility: John Hirsch Mainstage
Alternate URL: https://royalmtc.ca/Current-Plays/Into-the-Woods.aspx
Play Image: 875f8012-278c-414a-bd7b-47d7925bc4eb
Word Mark: ab546f76-ade7-4ca5-8263-8a45f95301b7
Rotator Image: 02b5211a-40d4-4aeb-a478-fc88d531513a
Display Rotator From: 12/5/2022 9:05:00 AM
Display Rotator To: 2/4/2023 11:55:00 PM
 

Stay in the loop!

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
Sign up now!