San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company and SFArtsED Partner with YBCA to Present INTO THE WOODS

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) and San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsED), in partnership with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), will present a new staging of Into the Woods for two performances only: Friday, July 25 at 7 p.m. (preview) and Saturday, July 26 at 7 p.m. (premiere).

The production will be held at the Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA (700 Howard St., San Francisco). Tickets ($40–$107) are available at sfbatco.org/into-the-woods.

The production brings together a cast of emerging performers and established professionals for a reimagining of the Tony Award–winning musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. A 15-piece orchestra will accompany the ensemble in a limited run that explores themes of consequence, community, and the stories we inherit.

“Having gotten my start as a young performer at SFArtsED, it's a full-circle moment to now return as a director for the 2025 summer production of Into the Woods,” said Jamie Yuen-Shore, the show’s director and an SFArtsED alumnus. “In 2000, I did my first SFArtsED summer camp, where we performed a new musical. Our young group of dancers got to help collaborate in creating the underwater movement vocabulary and fabricated painted fish props to bring us into the world. I'm inspired by the same idea of working with our campers and choreographers and using props and costumes to create the environment of Into the Woods this summer. This production is a reunion of so many of my favorite artists and collaborators—the choreographers and music directors I love to work with at SFBATCO and SFArtsED, the professional alumni who I grew up performing with, and the young alumni and current campers who I've gotten to work with as a choreographer and director. It's such a joy to have a deep and meaningful connection to the artists I'm working with.”

Adam Maggio, SFBATCO Managing Director and fellow SFArtsED alumnus, noted the relevance of the musical’s themes. “Sondheim and Lapine’s masterpiece examines what happens when the world gets turned upside down, and strangers unite to fight a common enemy. The show’s anthem, ‘Children Will Listen,’ serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of legacy. This song—and the show as a whole—will carry incredible weight with a cast of 40 young people together with professional actors with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional credits.”

Maggio added that this production underscores the importance of arts education and mentorship. “We were all those children, soaking up every bit of education we could get from our SFArtsED teachers in the early 2000s, and it is because of that training that SFBATCO exists today.”

“This is the perfect way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our summer camps,” said Emily Keeler, SFArtsED Artistic Director and co-founder of the SFArtsED Summer Arts Camp. “What we have discovered in the process of bringing alumni back to summer camp to work with young performers is just how much learning happens for the campers. They are dazzled and inspired by the talent of the alumni, and in rehearsals, they quickly rise to the professional standards being set and modeled by their older co-stars.”

Keeler emphasized the reciprocal nature of the mentorship. “The alumni—as we thought they would—love being together again, being directed by favorite mentors, and they in turn mentor the younger artists. This summer, we are honored to once again bring together alumni from nearly every decade of our camps to collaborate with our current campers, fabulous Artist Mentors, and musicians in our unique production of Into the Woods.”

Cast and Creative Team

The cast of Into the Woods (in alphabetical order) includes:
Ariella Berkman (Cinderella), Eric Cheung (The Narrator), Markaila Dyson (Florinda), Olivia Florentino (Cinderella's Stepmother), Cassie Grilley (Little Red Ridinghood), Jeffrey May Hyche (Jack), Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. (Cinderella's Prince & The Wolf), Emilie Kealani (Rapunzel), Wes Lieberman (The Mysterious Man), Adam Maggio (The Baker), Hailey Mogul (Lucinda), Patricia (Pete) St. Peter (The Witch), Orion Harris Santiago (Rapunzel's Prince), Angela Travino (The Baker's Wife), and Rose Koron Wittkower (Jack's Mother).