Dame Judi Dench going into the Woods

Dame Judi Dench is less like a giant than any actress you are likely to meet, but that doesn’t matter in the forthcoming production of Sondheim/Lapine's Into the Woods which opens at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park in August, as the diminutive dame will be providing the voice of the Giant.

Dench will not appear in the show and will record her part in late July.  It will be projected among some excellent musical theatre performers including Hannah Waddingham who is playing the Witch and recently received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her performance in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Jenna Russell is the The Baker’s Wife and won an Olivier in 2007 for her performance in Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George.

The cast also includes former Wicked star Helen Dallimore, former Avenue Q cast member Mark Goldthorp and the RSC’s Mark Hadfield playing the Baker.