The new production based on the classic Disney film is set to open its UK tour at the Bristol Hippodrome on the 25th August.
New rehearsal images have been released for the upcoming UK tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which is set to tour to Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin with further locations yet to be announced.
Directed and choreographed by Matt West, the production’s cast is set to be led by Courtney Stapleton (Dear Evan Hansen, Six, Les Misérables and Bat Out of Hell) and Emmanuel Kojo ( Oklahoma!, Girl from the North Country, Show Boat and The Scottsboro Boys) in the roles of Belle and her Beast.
They will be joined by Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical, Les Misérables) as Lumiere, Tom Senior (The Pirates of Penzance, Eugenius!) who will be Gaston, Sam Bailey (The X-Factor winner 2013, Blood Brothers) will play Mrs Potts, Nigel Richards (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables) as Cogsworth, Martin Ball (Les Misérables, Wicked, Top Hat) will take the role of Maurice, Samantha Bingley (Martha
In The Secret Garden) will be Wardrobe, Emma Caffrey (Curtains, 42nd Street, Funny Girl) will be Babette
and Louis Stockil (Miss Saigon, Mamma Mia!) will play Le Fou.
The company will be completed by Jake Bishop, Pamela Blair, Liam Buckland, Jasmine Davis, Autumn Draper, Daisy Edwards, Alyn Hawke, George Hinson, Jennifer Louise Jones, Brontë Lavine, ThomasLee Kidd, David McIntosh, Aimee Moore, Sam Murphy, Ashley-Jordon Packer, Emily Squibb, Grace Swaby, India Thornton and Rhys West.
The original West End production of Beauty and the Beast opened at the Dominion Theatre in April
1997, playing over 1100 performances to more than two million people. It won the 1998 Olivier Award
for Best Musical and enjoyed a hugely successful UK & Ireland tour in 2001.
The creative team behind this production includes composer Alan Menken, lyricist Tim Rice, bookwriter Linda Woolverton, scenic designer Stan Meyer, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward and lighting designer Natasha Katz.
This new production of beauty and the Beast will feature new dance arrangements by David Chase, allowing original choreographer Matt West to re-visit his work. Longtime Menken collaborators Michael Kosarin and Danny Troob are musical supervisor/vocal arranger and orchestrator, respectively.
Completing the design team will be John Shivers as sound designer, Darryl Maloney as the video and projections designer, and David H. Lawrence as hair designer. Jim Steinmeyer is the illusions designer, as he was on the original 1994 production. Casting for the production is by Pippa Ailion Casting.
To find out more about the UK tour of Beauty and the Beast and to book tickets visit: https://www.beautyandthebeastmusical.co.uk/