Courtney Stapleton, Emmanuel Kojo, Gavin Lee to Lead BEAUTY AND THE BEAST UK Tour
Disney’s Olivier Award-winning stage musical Beauty and the Beast today announces the cast to star in the re-imagined and re-designed new production. Staged by members of the original award-winning creative team, Beauty and the Beast will open a UK & Ireland Tour at The Bristol Hippodrome on Wednesday August 25, 2021 (National Press Night: Wednesday September 29).
Courtney Stapleton and Emmanuel Kojo will play the iconic lead roles, Belle and her Beast, as spectacular new designs and state-of-the-art technology fuse with the classic story, bringing the beloved tale to new life.
Courtney’s credits include Dear Evan Hansen, Six, Les Misérables and Bat Out of Hell, and Emmanuel is best known for performing in Oklahoma!, Girl from the North Country, Show Boat and The Scottsboro Boys.
Also announced today are Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical, Les Misérables) as Lumiere and Tom Senior (The Pirates of Penzance, Eugenius!) who will be Gaston.
Sam Bailey (The X-Factor winner 2013, Blood Brothers) will play the legendary role of Mrs. Potts, with 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.
Olivier Award nominee Matt West will direct and choreograph this new production, leading a team that includes composer Alan Menken, lyricist Tim Rice, bookwriter Linda Woolverton, scenic designer Stan Meyer, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward and lighting designer Natasha Katz. The team collectively received five Tony nominations and a win for Hould-Ward’s costume design, when Disney first debuted Beauty and the Beast on Broadway 26 years ago.
Matt West said: "I am so excited today to announce Courtney, Emmanuel and the whole company who will bring our new production of Beauty to life later this year. We have a vibrant and exciting cast, and I look forward to working with them and our original creative team to reimagine the show for today.”
The full company is completed with 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. Performances will begin in Bristol on Wednesday August 25, with other engagements also confirmed for Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin with more venues to be announced in due course. All tour dates and information at www.beautyandthebeastmusical.co.uk
