Phylicia Rashad is a two-time Tony winner for her roles in A Raisin in the Sun and Skeleton Crew. She has been cast as the voice of The Giant in Signature Theatre’s new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. The show will make its debut in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 9 at the MAX Theatre.
Rashad has been previously cast in this show; she succeeded Bernadette Peters (a three-time Tony winner) as The Witch in the original Broadway cast. She joined a list of other great actresses who appeared in the role, including Judi Dench, Glenn Close, and former Secretary of State and Presidential candidate-Hillary Clinton (who played The Witch in the 2022 production at Arkansas Repertory Theater).
The Signature production includes Christopher Bloch (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Kurt Boehm (the Steward), Simone Brown (Rapunzel), Alex De Bard (Little Red Riding Hood), Sherri L. Edelen (Jack’s Mother), Crystal J. Freeman (Cinderella’s Mother/Grandmother), Vincent Kempski (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Jake Loewenthal (The Baker), David Merino (Jack), Adelina Mitchell (Florinda), Katie Mariko Murray (Cinderella), Nova Y. Payton (The Witch), Lawrence Redmond (Cinderella’s Father), Maria Rizzo (Cinderella’s Stepmother, Paul Scanlan (Rapunzel’s Prince) Erin Weaver (The Baker’s Wife) and Chani Wereley (Lucinda).
“The creative team and I have set the production in an abandoned Victorian nursery, “said Matthew Gardiner-Signature Theatre’s Artistic Director, with crumbling plaster and overgrown vines. It’s a space where nature has forced its way through the floorboards and windows to reclaim it, where swiftly growing weeds hide broken treasure and characters that once lived only in a child’s fairytale book spin and weave around the space like apparitions from once upon a time.”
Tickets are available here.