Backstage Diary: Into The Woods on Broadway

Eight times a week at the St. James Theatre you'll see a witch, a giant, a pair of princes, and countless other fairy tale favorites turned on their head in director Lear deBessonet's hit revival of Into the Woods, which began as a starry Encores! performance at New York City Center before moving to Broadway. But to hear Patina Miller, the Tony Award-winning actress playing the musical's scene-stealing witch, tell it, plenty of the magic that the show has to offer isn't of the storybook variety.

"I’ve had an attachment to Stephen Sondheim's work since early in my career," Miller says, noting that Woods is the first Broadway revival of the composer and lyricist's work produced since his death in 2021. "To do this run has been incredible, to hear how much people are affected by the material and the weight of his words." When James Lapine, the show's writer, came by an early rehearsal, Miller says, "he said he felt that now more than ever this was the time for the show. "

Here, Miller opens her camera roll to T&C to share a behind-the-scenes look at Into the Woods, and the moments that audiences won't see on stage.