Rotating repertory returns for Shakespeare Festival’s 90th anniversary
By Jim Flint for Ashland.news
If you liked Miriam A. Laube and Royer Bockus in “Into the Woods” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2014, you’re going to love them in OSF’s 2025 production of . . . “Into the Woods.”
They’re among several of the 2014 cast members who will reprise their roles in OSF’s 90th anniversary season production of the iconic Stephen Sondheim musical.
OSF recently unveiled the casts for 2025. The lineup of nine plays will mark the return of OSF’s signature rotating repertory model. Themed as a “homecoming” season, it will bring together a mix of seasoned OSF veterans and fresh faces.
‘Our secret sauce’
“I’m thrilled to see the return of rotating repertory,” OSF Artistic Director Tim Bond said. “It’s our ‘secret sauce.’ It’s such a distinctive part of OSF’s identity and lets us showcase the extraordinary range of talent in our acting company.”
The combination of veterans and newcomers is reflected perhaps no better than in the casting choices for “Into the Woods.”
Playing to mostly sold-out houses in 2014, Laube and Bockus delighted audiences as the Witch and Rapunzel, respectively. They’ll reprise those roles in 2025, with Bockus also playing Cinderella’s Mother.
“I am most looking forward to standing onstage with Catherine Coulson again,” Laube said. “Though she will be there in spirit, I look forward to holding her hand across the veil, as we did onstage 11 years ago. What a gift it is.”
Coulson, who played Stepmother, Milky White and the Giant in 2014, died in 2015. She was with OSF for 22 seasons. She will be featured in the 2025 production in a special video appearance.
Other actors returning to “Into the Woods” include Jennie Greenberry as Cinderella and Anthony Heald as the Narrator and Mysterious Man. Kjerstine Rose Anderson, who played Little Red Riding Hood in 2014, will be back as the Baker’s Wife.
Thematic echo
Michael J. Hume, who was an understudy for the earlier production, will step into the role of Cinderella’s father. In a bit of artistic symmetry, Hume and Greenberry played father and daughter in another OSF production, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” in 2017. Once a fairy-tale family, always a fairy-tale family.
“I genuinely love playing in the Elizabethan,” Hume said, “with all its strange rules and demands of performing.”
He’ll have a two-show season, his first in 12 years, also playing Robert Shallow in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”
“That requires stamina,” he said. “Let’s just say I’ll be hitting the gym more regularly!”
Other “Woods” cast members include Linda Alper, Rhea Bradley, Teri Brown, Kiki deLohr, Justin Huertas, Cedric Lamar, Eddie Lopez, Ellen Soraya Nikbakht, Daniel T. Parker and Jaysen Wright.
Cultural historian
August Wilson’s work also returns to the OSF stage. His play “Jitney” will be at the Angus Bowmer Theatre from March 9 to July 20.
“I’m looking forward to directing ‘Jitney,’” Bond said. “Having August Wilson as part of this milestone season is deeply meaningful to me.”
The cast features Aldo Billingslea, Christian Denzel Bufford, Chris Butler, Preston Butler III, Reginald Andre Jackson, Kevin Kenerly, Folami Williams, James A. Williams and Tyrone Wilson.
Casts for other 2025 shows:
“Julius Caesar,” March 7 to Oct. 26, Bowmer Theatre, featuring Amelio García, Nell Geisslinger, Kate Hurster, Ava Mingo, Uma Paranjpe, Antoinette Robinson, Betsy Schwartz, Caroline Shaffer, Erica Sullivan, Lisa Tejero, Sheila Tousey, Jessika D. Williams, Kate Wisniewski and Caro Zeller.
“The Importance of Being Earnest,” March 8 to Oct. 25, Bowmer Theatre, featuring Linda Alper, Kiki deLohr, Thilini Dissanayake, Hao Feng, Amelio García, David Kelly, Julian Remulla, Lisa Tejero and Rex Young.
“Shane,” July 31 to Oct. 25, Bowmer Theatre, featuring Chris Butler, Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey, Tim Getman, William Thomas Hodgson, David Kelly, Armando McClain, Daniel José Molina, Katie Anvil Rich, Jonathan Luke Stevens, Roberto Tolentino and Rex Young.
“Fat Ham,” March 11 to June 27, Thomas Theatre, featuring Saran Evelyn Bakari, Aldo Billingslea, Christian Denzel Bufford, Marshall W. Mabry IV, David Morales and Shaunyce D. Omar.
“As You Like It,” April 16 to Oct 25, Thomas Theatre, featuring Benjamin Camenzuli, Jonathan A. Contreras, Al Espinosa, Nell Geisslinger, Ernie González Jr., Anthony James Kirby, David Anthony Lewis, Amy Lizardo, René Millán, Ava Mingo, Mark Murphey, Conner Neddersen, Kat Peña, Alexander Quiñones, Sheila Tousey and Kate Wisniewski.
“Quixote Nuevo,” July 9 to Oct. 24, Thomas Theatre, featuring Raúl Cardona, Jonathan A. Contreras, Alejandra Escalante, Al Espinosa, Ernie González Jr., Amy Lizardo, Kat Peña, Herbert Siguenza and VIVIS.
“The Merry Wives of Windsor,” May 30 to Oct. 12, Elizabethan Theatre, featuring Jennie Babisch, Royer Bockus, Teri Brown, Tim Getman, Jennie Greenberry, William Thomas Hodgson, Justin Huertas, Michael J. Hume, Ellen Soraya Nikbakht, Daniel T. Parker, Alex Purcell, Katie Anvil Rich, James Ryen, Jonathan Luke Stevens, Amy Kim Waschke, Tyrone Wilson and Jaysen Wright.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, go to osfashland.org.
Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him at [email protected].
