Harada et al. Lead INTO THE WOODS for National Asian Theatre Co. in Oct.

All Asian American stars of Broadway and Off-Broadway to perform Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musicaltINTO THE WOODS One night only October 11 in Manhattan

Concert performance presented by National Asian American Theatre Company

INTO THE WOODS - the musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine -will receive a singular presentation when the National Asian American Theatre company presents a benefit concert performance of the musical for one-night-only on Monday, October 11 at Engelman RecitAl Hall at Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Ave.) in Manhattan.

Directed by Alan Muraoka, the all Asian American cast of INTO THE WOODS features Ann Harada ("Avenue Q"), Jose Llana ("Putnam County Spelling Bee"), Telly Leung ("Pacific Overtures"), Jason Ma (NAATCO's "Falsettoland"), Orville Mendoza (NAATCO's "Seagull"), Manu Narayan("Bombay Dreams"), Olivia Oguma ("High School Musical"), Eileen Rivera("Dogeaters"), Virginia Wing (NAATCO's "Ivanov") and Anne Fraser Thomas.

Mr. Muraoka previously directed NAATCO's hit production Off-Broadway of William Finn's FALSETTOLAND, and last season's NAATCO benefit reading of Terrence McNally's LOVE, VALOUR, COMPASSION, both with all Asian American casts.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by James Lapine, INTO THE WOODS debuted on Broadway in 1987 in a production directed by Mr. Lapine, winning Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score. The musical was revived on Broadway in 2002. INTO THE WOODS is a musical adaptation of several stories from the legendary Brothers Grimm fairy tales, including "Little Red
Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Rapunzel," and "Jack and the Beanstalk."

The Obie Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company - under artistic director Mia Katigbak - is one of the country's leading Asian American performing arts organizations, begun 21 years ago to provide opportunities for Asian American theatre artists, particularly for actors to perform roles in Western classics for which they would typically not be cast.

To that end, NAATCO has presented all Asian American productions of THE SEAGULL last season, OTHELLO, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, OUR TOWN, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, FALSETTOLAND and IVANOV. As well, in recent seasons, NAATCO has presented new plays, also with Asian American casts, including Karen Hartman's LEAH'S TRAIN, Michael Golamco's COWBOY V. SAMURAI and Catherine Filloux's EYES OF THE HEART. NAATCO's production of A PLAY ON WAR was nominated for a Drama Desk last season.

Tickets to INTO THE WOODS are $125, $250, $500 and $1000 and can be reserved starting September 23 at www.theatermania.com 212 352 3101.

For more information on INTO THE WOODS and about NAATCO, visit www.naatco.org