By: Emily Gumal, Jamie Rager
Florida State University School of Theatre associate professor and MFA Directing Program director Chari Arespacochaga is a world-renowned director known for her work in theatre, film, multimedia, special events, and concerts. Her directing credits include “Rent” (which won Musical of the Year in Columbus, Ohio in 2023), “Kinky Boots,” “Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812,” which was performed at Florida State University in 2024, among many others.
This August, Arespacochaga will return to her hometown on Manila, in the Philippines, to direct a production of “Into the Woods” for Theatre Group Asia. This international theatre group under the artistic direction of Tony Award winner Clint Ramos is focused on producing works led by Filipino creatives and performed by artists of Filipino heritage, with a commitment to engaging Filipino audiences and fostering connections within the international theatre community.
The cast of “Into the Woods” features some of the Philippines’ biggest stars on stage and screen, including Lea Salonga, the first Asian actress to play Éponine in “Les Misérables” on Broadway, Arielle Jacobs, who debuted on Broadway as Nina Rosario in “In The Heights,” and Joaquin Pedro Valdes, whose latest role is as Luke Castellan and Ares in “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.”
The production is one of the most anticipated cultural events in Manila this summer. Additional performance dates for “Into the Woods” have already been announced, after nearly 30,000 tickets for the original performance dates sold out with two hours of the sale going live.
We sat down with Arespacochaga to discuss the upcoming production and her work at FSU.
Q & A with Chari Arespacochaga
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about Into the Woods? What are you most excited about, regarding this project?
A: “Into the Woods” is being produced by Theatre Group Asia which is a new theatre group, co-founded by Clint Ramos and Bobby Garcia. They invited me to join to be the director of the show Into the Woods. We just announced our entire cast… It’s really a mix of theatre veterans, concert artists from the Philippines, Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who are in the Diaspora, so we have people from London, we have people from Broadway, we have people from the U.S., and that is the entire cast and creative team. We are all particularly excited about thinking about how “Into the Woods” resonates with the Filipino cultural, social and political history.
Q: What does it mean for you to be returning to the Philippines for this project?
A: This will actually be the first time I’ve been back to the Philippines in more than 10 years, so it’s really exciting to be going back… Some of the cast members are very dear friends and colleagues whom I worked with before I left Manila. Some of them after former students of mine who are currently enjoying their own fields of success and are creating their own paths in this artistic world. I am in a great company and we all cannot wait to create this world for everyone.
Q: The show sold nearly 30,000 tickets in two hours, and Theatre Group Asia has already announced additional performances—What do you think contributed to that level of excitement?
A: Manila loves theatre. There has always been a rich and robust theatre scene there and it’s such a wonderful, warm, generous place. The show is a great piece of musical theatre, and “Into the Woods” is a wonderful story. It’s a story built around well-known fairy tales, but with a spin. What did people do to make their wishes come true, and what goes beyond what we think is a happy ending? Who are our giants and what do we do collectively in the face of these forces? How are we brought together? And, of course, there are some amazing actors in the cast, led by Lea Salonga.
Q: How has FSU supported your research and work as a director?
A: FSU has seriously helped with grants that fund my international research and creative activity. I’m also really busy in Tallahassee with teaching and other work, but there is a stillness in Tallahassee that enables me to really think and create away from the noise and the energy of busy environments like New York City and Los Angeles.
The young artists here also really help keep up my motivation, excitement and involvement in the theatre world. I want to keep that energy and excitement that they exude. The time in Tallahassee and at FSU around all those eager young artists helps spark my creativity and gives me energy to invest in my upcoming projects, including “Into the Woods.”