Roald Dahl's The Witches Creative

Director
Philip Corso
Philip is the president and artistic director of 90 Miles Theatre Company. Over the years he has work on and offstage with numerous theater companies in the Hudson Valley region. Philip has directed acclaimed productions of The Rocky Horror Show, The Sound of Music, 9 to 5, The Addams Family, Into The Woods, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and most recently Annie. He has also directed many straight plays including Claire Boothe Luce's The Women, The Children's Hour, The Graduate, and Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. Philip would like to thank Denise for her ongoing support and encouragement, the 90 Miles Board, this wonderful cast and crew, and most important the audience that has come out to support us. THANK YOU!
Co-director
Denise Wornell
Denise Wornell is a proud mom of 2 grown children, and is a Support Broker for Self-Directed Individuals with disabilities of all ages. Dance has been a part of Denise's life since she was very young, and through the years she has enjoyed learning and performing, and by the age of 13 she became a member of the Mid-Hudson Ballet Company. She later took on a teaching job which then led to choreographing local shows in Dutchess and Ulster Counties. She is so excited to be back at 90 Miles Theatre Company working with this amazing group.

Original Creative Team

Roald Dahl (Author) (1916-1990) was a spy, ace fighter pilot, chocolate historian and medical inventor. His first moment of inspiration came when he was at boarding school, when a local chocolate factory invited pupils to trial new chocolate bars. Thirty-five years later, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published.

Dahl went on to write many more stories, including Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox, all from a hut in his back garden in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. By the time he published The Minpins, he had written a total of 16 stories for children, which have been translated into 68 languages and read all over the world. He remains one of the world's greatest storytellers.

David Wood (Dramatist) has been called “the national children’s dramatist” (London Times). His plays are performed worldwide, and include The Gingerbread Man, The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner, Save the Human, Aladdin, Hijack Over Hygenia, Jack the Lad, Larry the Lamb in Toytown, Old Mother Hubbard and The Ideal Gnome Expedition.

Among his adaptations are eight Roald Dahl stories (The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, Danny the Champion of the World, George's Marvellous Medicine and The Magic Finger), Dick King-Smith’s Babe, The Sheep-Pig, Eric Hill’s Spot's Birthday Party, HRH the Prince of Wales’ The Old Man of Lochnagar, Philip Pullman’s Clockwork, Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea (Olivier Award nomination 2012), Sam McBratney’s Guess How Much I Love You, the award-winning Tom's Midnight Garden (from Philippa Pearce’s novel) and Michelle Magorian’s Goodnight Mister Tom, which won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and Family 2013.

His book Theatre for Children (Faber) is a set text on both sides of the Atlantic. Film screenplays include Swallows and Amazons and the award-winning Back Home (from Michelle Magorian’s novel). For the Queen’s 80th birthday, he wrote The Queen's Handbag, broadcast live from Buckingham Palace Gardens to 8,000,000 BBC 1 viewers. With Richard Taylor he adapted L P Hartley’s The Go-Between, which won Best Musical Production, Theatre UK Awards 2012.

His children’s books include Mole's Bedtime Story, Funny Bunny's Magic Show and A Present for Father Christmas, and he regularly visits schools with the message “BOOKS ARE FUN!” He also performs The David Wood Magic and Music Show in theatres all over the UK.

As an actor, David played on stage opposite Sir Michael Redgrave in A Voyage Round My Father, on the big screen with Malcolm McDowell in IF... and on the small screen, starring opposite Shelley Winters, in The Vamp. He is Chair of Action for Children’s Arts. In 2004 he was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Visit his website at davidwood.org.uk or watch Amateur Stage's recent interview with David.