AHEAD of the game as ever, Robert Readman will stage Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale musical Into The Woods in York in early December, before Rob Marshall's new movie version with Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt opens in January.

Readman is working with Leeds lighting and effects specialists Chris Speight and Adam Moore to create a "truly magical woodland world", both on stage and in the auditorium, for PIck Me Up Theatre's production from December 3 to 6 at the Grand Opera House.

"It will be the perfect setting for a musical that brings together well-known fairytale characters such as Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack from Jack And The Beanstalk," says the director. "The team’s lighting and projection effects were a highlight of Pick Me Up’s August production of Ghost The Musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre and will be this time too."

Into The Woods follows the quest of a baker and his wife to reverse a curse laid on them by the witch who lives next door.

"It’s a hugely entertaining and funny musical that cleverly interweaves the stories of fairytale characters we all know and love,” says Robert. "It’s not a sugar-coated show, though. It has a darker and thought-provoking side.

"When everyone’s wishes come true, the characters find the consequences of their self-centred actions come back to haunt them. Eventually they learn a moving life lesson about working together, the stories we tell our children, and the real meaning of ‘happily ever after’."

The hapless Baker and his Wife will be played by two Yorkshire teachers: Richard McDonald, who starred as Nicky in York Light Opera Company’s Avenue Q at York Theatre Royal in June, and Toni Feetenby, the leading lady in a multitude of York musical shows. Toni, head of performing arts at Manor School in York, last appeared as the alluring actress Rose Vibert in York Musical Theatre Company's Aspects Of Love at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in April.

Susannah Baines and Kirsten Moore, who made Pick Me Up debuts in Ghost The Musical, take the roles of the Witch and Cinderella respectively. Red Riding Hood will be played by Katy Metheringham, who starred as Annie in York Stage Musicals' Annie! in May, while Bubwith schoolboy Sam Hird will be Jack.

Sam performed in the inaugural Shakespeare's Globe Young Players season in London, appearing in John Marston's The Malcontent in the new indoor Sam Wanamaker Theatre in April.

Tickets for December's 7.30pm performances and 2.30pm Saturday matinee are on sale on 0844 871 3024 and at atgtickets.com/york or pickmeuptheatre.com

Looking forward to the fairytale frolics, Robert says: "Into The Woods is one of my all-time favourites and I know audiences in York are going to enjoy it. As it works on so many levels, it will appeal to the whole family, young and old. York audiences love their Christmas shows, and this one’s got it all: witches, giants, wolves, cows, magic beans and every fairytale character you can think of.”