Courtney Stapleton and Emmanuel Kojo will take on the title roles in the re-imagined and re-designed production of the Olivier Award-winning stage musical version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast when the production launches at the Bristol Hippodrome on 24 August 2021.
Two of musical theatre’s rising stars Stapleton (Six, Dear Evan Hansen) and Kojo (Girl From The North Country, The Scottsboro Boys) will lead a cast that includes: Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, Les Misérables) as Lumiere; Tom Senior (The Pirates of Penzance, Eugenius!) as Gaston; Sam Bailey (Blood Brothers, Chicago) as Mrs Potts; Nigel Richards (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables) as Cogsworth; Martin Ball (Les Misérables, Wicked) as Maurice; Samantha Bingley (The Secret Garden, Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical) as Wardrobe; Emma Caffrey (Curtains, 42nd Street) as Babette and Louis Stockil (Miss Saigon, Mamma Mia!) as Le Fou.
The company is completed by Jake Bishop, Pamela Blair, Liam Buckland, Jasmine Davis, Autumn Draper, Daisy Edwards, Alyn Hawke, George Hinson, Jennifer Louise Jones, Brontë Lavine, Thomas Lee Kidd, David McIntosh, Aimee Moore, Sam Murphy, Ashley-Jordon Packer, Emily Squibb, Grace Swaby, India Thornton and Rhys West.
As previously announced, subject to the lifting of social-distancing restrictions this summer the musical will now play its opening season at Bristol Hippodrome from 24 August until 18 September, before heading for the Liverpool Empire (23 September-16 October) followed by the Edinburgh Playhouse (21 October-27 November) and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (9 December 2021-15 January 2022). Exact dates for the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin in November 2022 will be announced soon along with details of further venues.
Reuniting the original award-winning creative team, the production will make use of advanced theatrical techniques which were not available when the musical debuted on Broadway 26 years ago.
Original choreographer Matt West will direct and choreograph the new production with scenic designer Stan Meyer returning along with lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony Award-winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward.
Featuring the music of Alan Menken, the lyrics of Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, the stage musical based on the much-loved and Academy Award-winning 1991 animated film, debuted on Broadway in 1994. Beauty and the Beast debuted in the West End at the Dominion Theatre in April 1997 where it played over 1,100 performances.
Commenting on the new version of the show which ran for 13 years on Broadway, eight-time Oscar winning composer Menken said: “Beauty and the Beast is a testament to the genius of my late friend and collaborator Howard Ashman, but the show’s richness comes from the combination of Howard’s style and that of the brilliant Tim Rice, with whom I expanded the score to give voice to the Beast.
“It’s clear that audiences the world over want to return to the world of Beauty, which continues to amaze and humble those of us who created it. As the show returns to the UK, I cannot wait to see how Rob Roth and this glorious creative team bring the whole universe of Beauty and the Beast to life once again.”
Lyricist Rice added: “Beauty and the Beast is a story and a show which resonates through generations, and it was a great pleasure to work with Alan to expand the score he and the brilliant Howard Ashman first created.
“I am thrilled that there will be a brand new production and that the newest theatrical wizardry will bring another layer of magic to the tale. It is great that the UK will host the premiere of the new production, as this country has always enjoyed a special affinity with the show.”
Belle will reunite with the Beast in a production which will feature new dance arrangements by David Chase. Long-time Menken collaborators Michael Kosarin and Danny Troob have joined the team as musical supervisor/vocal arranger and orchestrator, respectively.
The design team is completed by Tony Award-winner John Shivers as sound designer, with Darryl Maloney as video and projections designer and David H. Lawrence as hair designer. The illusions designer for the 1994 production Jim Steinmeyer is also returning. Casting for the production is by Pippa Ailion Casting.
Beauty and The Beast is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the supervision of Thomas Schumacher.
Inspired by the classic French fairy-tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumon, the original 1991 film became the first animated feature to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Disney’s live action version became the highest-grossing live action film musical of all time on its release in 2017. (The record was only beaten by the company’s The Lion King live action release in 2019).
Angela Thomas
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