DAMARISCOTTA -   Heartwood Regional Theater Company begins its fifth season with Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, running November 2 through 10.

The production is the third collaboration involving Lincoln Academy Drama, including Les Miserables in 2004 and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 2006, both of which were performed at Wiscasset High School. This year,  Into the Woods will be performed at the Parker B. Poe Theater at Lincoln Academy, in Newcastle, and involves students age 11 to 18 from a dozen midcoast towns.

Into the Woods is the musical journey of a Baker and his Wife, the Witch next door, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack, and many more who embark on separate  quests,  finding objects to break a spell, stealing, falling in love and running away. Soon, the familiar tales are twisted in only the way Sondheim and Lapine might conceive, with music and plot running swiftly and simultaneously.  All ends well as the first act concludes, but the consequences of the characters’ actions return to haunt them in act two, with disastrous results.  What begins as a tongue in cheek fantasy, in the style of The Princess Bride, quickly evolves into moving lessons about community and responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

The cast includes Lesley Yates, Abbey Hutchins, Sarah Winglass, Emily Bell-Hoerth, Miranda Sprague, Tess McKechnie, Ariana Tilton, Amelia Pennington, Nellie Kelly, Meg Lydon, Shawna Searles, Katie Meuse, Holly Martin, Emily Crider, Phoebe Arnold, Christina Braley, Phoebe Clewley, Alex Braley, Sage Landry, Bavo DeGroote, Joe Sibley, Cole Domeyer, Joe Lugosch, Dennis Boyd and Jake Maxmin.

Pianists Ruth Gelsinger and Kevin Kiley will be joined by student orchestra members Jessica Hunt, Isaac Vesery, Patrick Williams, Megan Newell, Olivia Delisle, Sara Komorowski and Katie Williams.  Local artists Mary Boothby and Erica Qualey are facilitating more than 20 students working on a complicated set design, and Luke Kalloch is sound engineer for the production.  Lincoln Academy Performing Arts faculty members include Liz Matta, who is working with the student pit musicians, Beth Preston, voice coach and music director, and Griff Braley, artisctic director.

Into the Woods is supported by show sponsors Savings Bank of Maine and by Suzanne Weiss and Nancy Carleton at CHR Realty/ GMAC Real Estate.

Performances will be given on November 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 @ 7 p.m. and November 4 @ 2 p.m.  General admission tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students thru high school  and may be purchased by calling 563-1373 or emailing  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information, visit www.heartwoodtheater.org.