Duluth Playhouse Presents ‘Into The Woods’

Duluth Playhouse is brining the critically acclaimed Broadway musical ‘Into The Woods’ to the Nor Shor Theater stage, running from March 17th to April 2nd.

The musical is a mash up of all kinds of fairytale stories that all come together and intertwine. Classic characters like Cinderella, The Witch, Rapunzel, The Baker and his wife, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood all interact with each other.

For ticket information you can visit the Duluth Playhouse’s website here.

Jen Burleigh-Bentz, who plays The Witch, says, “The first act is them coming together to find out what their wishes are that will allow them to be happy in their lives. And they go out and they get that wish, and then they become happy in their lives and have the happily-ever-after and realize there’s a Life to live after that.”

Jen is one actor of the actors returning to the Playhouse. After she was apart of Mamma Mia cast which was the Duluth Playhouse show that re-opened the NorShor Theater.

The Steven Sondheim musical goes in-depth into who these fairytale characters are, more than the original Brothers Grimm tales or Disney stories ever did.

Another returner to the Playhouse, Hope Nordquist who plays Cinderella, says, “It’s such a different take on fairytales because they are all tied up with such a nice ribbon, and it’s fun to see them be people.”

The show has a reputation for having difficult music to learn but for Sofia Salmela and Baker Anderson they are taking on that challenge together as very young actors. The pair play Little Red and Jack.

“Well this is like an adult show so it’s nice to have someone relatively my age going through it and
going to school and all that”, says Baker.

Sofia says playing Little Red was new for her. She says, “It’s just very different from a lot of other characters I’ve played I love just being feisty.”

And ‘Into The Woods’ leaves out the insane dance numbers, typically seen in other musicals, for a focus on the music and lyrics that have been captivating audiences for decades.

Sofia says, “There’s a lot of words going on. It’s different every single time. It just throws you for a loop every single song.”