Weather 
Producers announced today a fully staged showcase production of the new musical in development, WATCHER IN THE WOODS, music & orchestrations by Johanna Telander, book & lyrics by Douglas Thompson, music direction by Brian Walters, directed by Chase Kniffen, based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall. The showcase production will play Wednesday, September 11 – Sunday, September 15 at UrbanStages.
The showcase production of WATCHER IN THE WOODS will feature Sophia Manicone as “Jan/Karen Aylwood,” Natalie Toro as “Mrs. Aylwood,” Carson Worthy as “Mark/Marcus/Charlie,” and Rachel Zatcoff as “Kate/Janet Fleming.”
The creative team includes: Chase Kniffen (Sets), David Marmon (Costumes), Joe Doran (Lighting), Elisabeth Weidner (Sound), Bryan Gonzalez (Hair & Wigs), Mo Guiberteau (Director of Production), Betty Kasper (Production Manager), and Michelle Elizabeth (Production Stage Manager).
Further casting to be announced soon.
Watcher in the Woods: A New Musical is a supernatural family drama, intertwining themes of familial love, loss and reconnection with the supernatural mystery of R.L. Stein’s “Goosebumps” and the universe-expanding heart of E.T.
Summer. 1976. It’s been nearly a year, and Jan is still haunted by the traumatic loss of her father. Now, her mother has moved Jan and her little sister into a creepy old house, surrounded by dark woods. Here, the haunting is real. Forces she cannot see, and feelings that are not hers, compel Jan to unlock the fifty-year-old mystery of a young girl’s disappearance in the woods. Someone, or something, wants her to know the truth: the only way out of the woods … is through.
Other adaptations of the 1976 novel include the 1980 Walt Disney Studios film, The Watcher in the Woods, starring Bette Davis, David McCallum, and Kyle Richards; and the 2017 Lifetime remake, starring Anjelica Huston, directed by Melissa Joan Hart. Watcher in the Woods: A New Musical is an all-original work, solely based on, and expanded from, the novel.
For information and updates, visit WatcherInTheWoodsMusical.com
