Creative Team for Into The Woods Revealed
Following the announcement of Into the Woods’ stellar ensemble led by Tony Award and Olivier-winning Philippine legend Lea Salonga, Broadway star Arielle Jacobs, and award-winning actress Eugene Domingo, Theatre Group Asia (TGA) reveals the powerhouse lineup of award-winning and internationally acclaimed creative mavericks assembled to bring the enchanting world of the Into The Woods to life. Under the leadership of TGA co-founder and the musical’s Artistic and overall Creative Director Clint Ramos, the Tony Award-winning, six-time Tony nominee, and recently announced Lincoln Center Artist-in-Residence beams with pride in announcing the formidable team as follows:
CHARI ARESPACOCHAGA, Director
TGA co-founder Bobby Garcia’s long-time collaborator Chari Arespacochaga, with whom Garcia was set to co-direct Into The Woods, takes the helm as the show’s director. On leading the 18- ensemble cast, Arespacochaga says, “It’s going to be fun! To work with some of the country’s and the world’s best performers are both a joy and a challenge. While we ensure the integrity of the brilliant Sondheim material remains, it will also be exciting to put our own unique stamp. My role is to tap into this world-class collection of artists and give them the avenue to unleash their characters while in a way that’s faithful to the narrative. It’s about celebrating our joint love for the craft and providing the audience with a memorable theater experience.”
A member of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Directors Group, Arespacochaga’s theatrical direction credits include the Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Kinky Boots, Rent, Fumiko Enchi’s Restless Night in Late Spring and A Hell of Her Own, Coin Toss by Alexis Sims, Long Distance Affair, In The Heights, The Motherf**ker With The Hat, Birthmark, Love’s Labour’s Lost the Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Amadeus, and 9 Minutes among others. Committed to the development of new works, she has likewise led the premiere public reading of Ed Clark’s Shame Bomb and is the Director of Creative Development for Em and Missing. Currently a professor at the School of Theatre of Florida State University, she is the Director of the MFA Directing Program.
GERARD SALONGA, Music Director
Maestro Gerard Salonga lends his musicianship as Into the Woods’ Music Director. Under his baton, the award-winning musical conductor, composer, and arranger is no stranger to Philippine audiences. Starting his musical journey at the tender age of five, he developed his artistry and started performing as an accompanying pianist to his older sister, Lea. Salonga quickly gained recognition for his musical stylings and under the mentorship of National Artist Ryan Cayabyab, he was inspired to fully immerse in the field, eventually completing his MFA with summa cum laude honors from the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. Currently, Salonga shuffles between Kuala Lumpur and Manila. He is the Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and works closely with the Malaysian Philharmonic
Youth Orchestra. In Manila, he is the Music Director of the Filharmonika Orchestra and Music Director of the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, a program comprised of talented yet underprivileged musicians seeking mentorship and opportunities.
OHM David, Set Designer
Magically transforming the Samsung Performing Arts main stage into the mystical universe of Into The Woods is the musical’s Set Designer, Ohm David. David is a highly sought-after stage and lighting designer for theater, dance, and live events. From his Dulaang UP roots, David has since amassed stellar international credits alongside his notable local accomplishments. Some of his works include Ballet Philippines’ Firebird, Tanghalang Pilipino’s Ang Pag-Uusig, The Dante Project under the Mellon Foundation and Notre Dame University, Dulaang UP’s The Dressing Room and Ang Nawalang Kapatid, Siddhartha the Musical, PETAplus’ Tabing Ilog, PETA’s One More Chance, Fire and Ice’s Choosing, and Barefoot Theater Collaborative’s Mula Sa Buwan and Barboys. The University of the Philippines awarded him as one of the most productive artists of UP. David also designed the Manila Clock Tower Museum and the TAWID Gallery in Shambala Silang.
RAVEN ONG, Costume Designer
U.S.-based but locally bred, Into the Woods’ Costume Designer Raven Ong obtained his undergraduate degree in Production Design at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts in 2007, and has since designed for various theater companies in the Philippines. He then received his MFA in Costume Design from University of Connecticut. Ong’s portfolio boasts of works in productions staged in prestigious venues like the New York Lyric Opera at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His plays and musicals credits include costume design for Waitress, Kinky Boots, Matilda, Beautiful: Carole King Musical, and La Mama Experimental Theatre Club’s world premiere of Dying in Boulder.
More recent works include Antony and Cleopatra for the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Stage’s Sense and Sensibility, Repertory Philippines’ Jepoy and the Magic Circle, Buruguduystunstugudunstuy: and Ang Parokya Ni Edgar Musical. Ong is an Associate Professor of Costume Design at Central Connecticut State University and a recipient of Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Award Best Costume Design of a Musical for Red House Art Center’s production of La Cage Aux Folles.
CHA SEE, Lighting Designer
Making a homecoming is Obie Award-winning lighting designer Cha See, who is the show’s Lighting Director. After a long absence from the local scene, See is overjoyed to be doing her first show in the Philippines in 11 years.
Some of See’s international acclaimed works include Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!; Wet Brain, Liberation, Show/Boat, Mother Road, Sanctuary City, Pericles, Babbitt, Jordans, Is It Thursday Yet?, You, Will Get Sick, On That Day in Amsterdam, The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, one in two, BABE, Sorry for Your Loss, The Fever, and Lucy, and What to Send Up When It Goes Down to name a few. See holds an MFA from NYU Tisch and is also the first Filipino to supervise and design lighting for a major Broadway production.
MEGUMI TAKAYAMA, Sound Designer
New York-based Megumi Takayama is thrilled to be working on the Philippine production of Into The Woods as the musical’s Sound Designer. An MFA graduate from the Yale School of Drama, her credits include The Life in New York City Center’s Encores!, off-Broadway productions of Wonderful Town, Titanic, Jelly's Last Jam, The Light in the Piazza, The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse, All the World’s A Stage, For Colored Girls…
In New York, she has also worked with Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center LCT3, NAATCO, Target Margin, Primary Stages, Minetta Lane, Ping Chong+Company, Rattlestick, Little Island, and the NYTW Gala. Takayama’s regional works include engagements with Cambodian Rock Band (Tour), The Nosebleed (Tour), Jersey Boys (Paper Mill), Alliance, Trinity Rep, Old Globe, DCPA, Geva, Alley, Studio Theater, Everyman, Woolly Mammoth, Two River, Cincinnati Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, Yale Rep, ZACH Theater, East West Players, Dorset Theater Festival, Chautauqua Theater Company, Skylight Music Theatre, Theater Aspen, and more.
Completing the creative team are Assistant Director Jamie Wilson, Associate Musical Director Farley Asunción, Assistant Costume Designer Hershee Tantiado, Associate Lighting Director Meliton Roxas, Associate Sound Designer Aron Roca, Choreographer Cecile Martinez, Vocal Coach Manman Angsico, Multimedia Designer GA Fallarme, Hair and Makeup Designer Johann dela Fuente, puppet design by Aina Bonifacio Ramolete, and puppet execution by National Artist Amelia Bonifacio’s Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas.
For more information about Into The Woods, please visit www.theatregroupasia.com, or follow Facebook and Instagram @theatregroupasia.
*Into the Woods is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI), New York, NU, USA. All authorized performance materials are supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com