THE CIRCUIT, Makati City — Musical fans will expect the best when Olivier and Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga plays the role of The Witch in the upcoming Philippine staging of Stephen Sondheim's 'Into the Woods' at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati this coming August.

According to Theater Group Asia (TGA), which is behind the stage of the musical, joining the masterful musical that intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Salonga's joining the production will add more color to the show.

TGA was also behind the staging of Request sa Radyo, which likewise starred Lea Salonga, who alternated the role with Dolly De Leon.

"We are so pleased and proud to have an actress of Lea’s caliber lead the spectacular and stellar ensemble of TGA’s production of Into The Woods. This is Lea’s first musical in the Philippines in six years, and what a grand comeback it’s sure to be! Into the Woods is a very complex and thought-provoking piece," Clint Ramos, one of the TGA founding collaborator, enthused in a press statement.

"We want to create a version that considers the Filipino condition. Hopefully, our context will give more meaning to the already rich work of this Sondheim musical. And Lea, with her remarkable talent and abilities, will be very instrumental in imparting that message," Ramos added.

Salonga likewise expressed the same vuew, stressing that performing on stage is one of her biggest desires since she was a young girl.

"The last show I did in Manila was a Stephen Sondheim masterpiece. Now, I’m coming in Into the Woods, yet another Sondheim masterpiece! If all I do for the rest of my life is perform in Sondheim shows, I’ll be very happy. But most of all, to my dear friend, ‘This one is for you, Bobby!'," Salonga said, referring to her last musical in the Philippines, Sweeney Todd, directed by the late Bobby Garcia.

"It’s very exciting, as well as, exhausting. Sondheim is no joke! Learning the material before day one of rehearsals takes a few weeks because his patterns can be puzzling and challenging but so rewarding once it all comes together. It’s also cool that I get to revisit a role that I played as a younger adult. I was about 23 years old when I previously played The Witch. Playing her again 30 years later is going to be illuminating. So much life has happened in the intervening years. I’m hoping to bring as much of that as I can to this production," she concluded.