This year's Virgina Theatre Festival season will open on June 27 with Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods." Also on the summer schedule will be "The Heart Sellers," Lloyd Suh's new comedy about the immigrant experience in America in the 1970s, and Jenna Pastuszek's one-woman show filled with Judy Garland songs, "Get Happy! -- A Celebration of the World's Greatest Entertainer."
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Tickets will go on sale April 22 online at virginiatheatrefestival.org, in person at the University of Virginia Arts Box Office in the lobby of the Drama Building on Culbreth Road from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and by phone at (434) 924-3376.
"Into the Woods" will run from June 27 to July 6 in UVa's Culbreth Theatre to open the festival's 51st season. Matthew Steffens, who serves as director and choreographer for the season opener, was assistant choreographer for the recent Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of "Into the Woods" and directed the festival's 2023 production of "Cabaret."
Steffens and Jenny Wales, artistic director of the Virginia Theatre Festival, were castmates in the UVa Department of Drama's production of "Into the Woods" in 1998.
Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical offers new perspectives on classic fairy tales, including the stories of "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood."
"The Heart Sellers," to be presented from July 11 to 20 in the Helms Theatre, will be directed by Desdemona Chiang. Suh, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, tells the story of two 20-something immigrants, one from the Philippines and the other from South Korea, who share both homesickness and hope for a bright future in the U.S.
Pastuszek, a UVa alumna, singer, actress, voiceover artist and voice teacher, will perform both Garland's massive hits and some lesser-known gems during "Get Happy! -- A Celebration of the World's Greatest Entertainer," which can be seen from July 24 to 27 in the Ruth Caplin Theatre.
Pastuszek, an acclaimed cabaret performer, also presents a one-woman Barbra Streisand show, "Me, Myself and Barbra."