Dennis Gaviola

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Josh dela Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1754308036798Screenshot 2025-08-04 at 7.45.53 PM.png" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Josh Dela Cruz plays the roles of Prince Charming and The Wolf in &quot;Into the Woods.&quot; HandoutFilipino-American actor Josh Dela Cruz, known to many as the host of Nickelodeon&#x27;s &quot;Blue&#x27;s Clues &amp; You,&quot; is back in the Philippines for the local staging of Stephen Sondheim&#x27;s &quot;Into the Woods.&quot;</div>The musical, a production of Theatre Group Asia, will have a 24-show run from August 7 to 31 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati.It marks the Philippine stage debut of Dela Cruz, whose international theater credits include &quot;Aladdin&quot; on Broadway, as well as &quot;Here Lies Love,&quot; &quot;The King and I,&quot; and &quot;Merrily We Roll Along.&quot; Here, the Fil-Am star plays two roles: <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/6/27/josh-dela-cruz-of-blues-clues-joins-ph-production-of-into-the-woods-1238">Prince Charming and The Wolf</a>. During a recent press conference for the musical, Dela Cruz was asked which of the two characters he enjoys portraying more. &quot;I have already played a wolf in an episode of &#x27;Blue&#x27;s Clues &amp; You,&#x27; so been there, done that,&quot; he said in jest. &quot;But really, my favorite role to play is the Prince.&quot;&quot;I love playing The Wolf because I get to be in a completely different character than I&#x27;ve been playing for the past five years. But I think my favorite part about being the Prince is how much I get to interact with the cast, and how much I get to play with them,&quot; he explained. &quot;Because they are not only amazing singers, but also such talented actors. So inspiring.&quot;Dela Cruz is honored to work with <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/7/31/lea-salonga-3-other-kims-from-miss-saigon-come-together-for-into-the-woods-musical-2037">Filipino theater greats such as Lea Salonga</a> (The Witch), as well as fellow <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/7/4/fil-am-broadway-star-arielle-jacobs-honored-to-perform-with-lea-salonga-in-into-the-woods-1630">Fil-Am Broadway star Arielle Jacobs</a> (Cinderella) in &quot;Into the Woods,&quot; a dark comedy that intertwines several fairy tale characters&#x27; exploits.Going beyond praising their talent on stage, he also commended his co-stars for giving him room to make mistakes.&quot;The more reason I can stay spontaneous, because I feel safe around them to make mistakes,&quot; he said. &quot;Every day is an acting lesson for me... I had a lot of fun.&quot;When asked to say something about his fellow cast member Mark Bautista, who was seated beside him during the press conference, Dela Cruz said he has learned a lot from the singer-actor, who plays the role of Rapunzel&#x27;s Prince. &quot;I adore Mark,&quot; he began. &quot;I remember when we first started working, I had an idea of what the character would be. And as soon as Mark started the scene, I realized, &#x27;Oh, I&#x27;ve been thinking about this so wrong.&#x27; So his acting instincts have really inspired the choices I&#x27;ve made.&quot;&quot;Also his playfulness and the fact that he never stops having fun -- I&#x27;ve learned so much from Mark, and I can&#x27;t wait for you to see us just be silly,&quot; he added.Dela Cruz last <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/celebrities/2024/11/21/-blue-s-clues-you-host-joshua-dela-cruz-visits-rizal-s-masungi-georeserve-1805">visited the Philippines in 2024 as an environmentalist in support of Masungi Georeserve</a>, a 2,700-hectare conservation site in Rizal. He is happy to be back again not just for work, but also to get a taste of real Filipino food that suits his vegetarian lifestyle. &quot;I became a vegetarian almost nine years ago and since then, I haven&#x27;t been able to eat Filipino food. It&#x27;s been something that really, really upsets me because I love it so much. It&#x27;s part of my culture, of how I grew up,&quot; he shared.&quot;But being here, being able to go to a grocery store or a restaurant and have Filipino food that was made for people that eat the way I do, it just makes me so proud to be from here,&quot; he added. &quot;Because I don&#x27;t feel excluded the way that I sometimes do feel excluded back home in the States. So I&#x27;m just so thankful to be here. It&#x27;s delicious.&quot;

Filipino-American actor Josh Dela Cruz, known to many as the host of Nickelodeon's "Blue's Clues &amp; You," is back in the Philippines for the local staging of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods."

Filipino-American actor Josh Dela Cruz, known to many as the host of Nickelodeon's "Blue's Clues & You," is back in the Philippines for the local staging of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods."

'Blue's Clues & You' host Josh Dela Cruz is back in PH for 'Into the Woods'

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'Blue's Clues & You' host Josh Dela Cruz is back in PH for 'Into the Woods'

ABS-CBN News,

Karen Flores Layno

Published Aug 04, 2025 07:55 PM PHT

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Josh Dela Cruz

Mark Bautista

Into the Woods

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