The U.K. and Ireland tour of Beauty and the Beast is set to begin performances at the Bristol Hippodrome August 25 ahead of an official opening September 29. The Disney musical, directed and choreographed by Matt West, has been re-imagined and re-designed for the tour.
Beauty and the Beast features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton.
The production stars Courtney Stapleton (Six, Dear Evan Hansen) as Belle, Emmanuel Kojo (Girl From the North Country, The Scottsboro Boys) as the Beast, Tony nominee Gavin Lee (SpongeBob SquarePants, Mary Poppins) as Lumiere, Tom Senior (The Pirates of Penzance) as Gaston, Sam Bailey (Blood Brothers) as Mrs. Potts, Nigel Richards (The Phantom of the Opera) as Cogsworth, Martin Ball (Les Misérables) as Maurice, Samantha Bingley (The Secret Garden) as the Wardrobe, Emma Caffrey (Curtains) as Babette, and Louis Stockil (Miss Saigon) as Le Fou.
Rounding out the cast are 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.
The production team also includes scenic designer Stan Meyer, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, and lighting designer Natasha Katz. The team received five Tony nominations and a win for Hould-Ward’s costume design when Disney debuted Beauty and the Beast on Broadway 26 years ago.
The tour will feature new dance arrangements by David Chase (including a tap dance break in “Be Our Guest” created for Lee), with musical supervision and arrangements by Michael Kosarin, orchestrations by Danny Troob, sound design by John Shivers, video and projections design by Darryl Maloney, hair design by David H. Lawrence, illusions design by Jim Steinmeyer, and casting by Pippa Ailion Casting.
Beauty and the Beast is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions under the supervision of Thomas Schumacher.
