Lea Salonga and Arielle Jacobs to Star in Into the Woods in the Philippines

Lea Salonga and Arielle Jacobs are set to star in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical Into the Woods in the Philippines. Salonga will play the Witch and Jacobs will play Cinderella in the production at the Samsung Performing Arts Theatre in Makati in August.

Salonga’s Broadway credits include Les Misérables, Miss Saigon (Tony Award) and, most recently, Here Lies Love, in which she performed with Jacobs. She is set to appear on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends this season. In 2019 she played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd as Mrs. Lovett in Manila, where she was born.

Jacobs originated the role of Imelda Marcos in the Broadway production of Here Lies Love. Her Broadway credits also include Aladdin, In the Heights and Wicked. Into the Woods will be Jacobs' debut performance in a full-length production in the Philippines; she was born in San Francisco to a Filipino mother and an American-Jewish father. "I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to bring my art back to where my family came from, for the Filipino people I love so much, and in a show that is very special and dear to my heart,” she said in a statement.

"This is a role I've always wanted to play,” she added. “To be playing it while sharing the stage with my friend and hero Lea Salonga on a Philippine stage is a dream come true on so many levels.”