Into the Woods to Close on December 29

The Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairytale musical Into the Woods will end its run at the Broadhurst Theatre on Sunday, December 29, after having played 18 previews and 279 regular performances.

Starring Vanessa Williams as the Witch and John McMartin as the Narrator, the production opened at the Broadhurst on April 30 following an earlier run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The cast also includes Erin Dilly (who recently replaced Laura Benanti in the role of Cinderella), Stephen DeRosa, Kerry O’Malley, Gregg Edelman, and Christopher Sieber. Williams is scheduled to exit the production on December 22; it seems that one of her two understudies, Linda Mugleston or Tracy Nicole Chapman, will play the Witch for the show’s final week.

Although the production won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival earlier this year, its critical reception was lukewarm. In his TheaterMania review, David Finkle wrote that Sondheim’s score “has some wonderful moments, alternately punchy and plangent” and went on to praise the “indubitably impressive” design elements of the show, but he was less enthusiastic about the cast. “Though the actors are staunch as they acquit their duties,” Finkle wrote, “the individual performances don’t register strongly.”