(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse presents the all-new musical production of Disney’s Hercules from February 16 through March 19, 2023. It’s a terrific twist of fates! The inspired Disney animated film is now a mythical new musical adventure. Hercules is the divinely funny story of an honest-to-Zeus hero on a quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Is love a possibility too? Oh, Hades, yes! The roof-raising score features all the hits you love from the film, including the Oscar-nominated song “Go the Distance,” as well as “Zero to Hero” and “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” along with new songs written for the stage.
Joining previously announced cast members Bradley Gibson (The Lion King, A Bronx Tale: The Musical) as Hercules, Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (Broadway’s The Music Man 2022 revival, Oklahoma!) as Hades, Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin, Hamilton) as Phil, and Isabelle McCalla (PMP’s Clue, Broadway’s Aladdin, The Prom) as Meg will be Jeff Blumenkrantz (Bright Star) as Panic and Reggie De Leon (Aladdin) as Pain, alongside the Muses: Charity Angél Dawson (Waitress) as Clio, Tiffany Mann (Waitress) as Calliope, Anastacia McCleskey (Caroline, or Change) as Thalia, Destinee Rea (The Book of Mormon) as Terpsichore and Rashidra Scott (Company) as Melpomene.
The ensemble of Hercules will feature Kathryn Allison (Company) as Despina, Allyson Kaye Daniel (1776) as Aunt Tithesis/Lachesis, Lucia Giannetta (Broadway and PMP’s A Bronx Tale: The Musical) as Atropos, Jesse Nager (Motown: The Musical) as Nessus, Kristen Faith Oei (Lincoln Center’s The King & I) as Hera, Dennis Stowe (Aladdin) as Zeus and Anne Fraser Thomas (PMP’s Sister Act) as Clotho, as well as Joshua Buscher (Kinky Boots), Marcus Cobb (In the Heights film), Zachary Downer (Hello, Dolly!), Ryan Fitzgerald (Matilda at the Muny), Kendall LeShanti (Lifetime’s “Bring It”), Chani Maisonet (Ain’t Too Proud), Skye Mattox (Carousel), Jason W. McCollum (Taft Theater’s Cinderella), Erin Moore (Shuffle Along), JJ Niemann (The Book of Mormon), Gabrielle Reid (PMP’s The Color Purple, Broadway’s Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Adam Roberts (Pippin), Ben Roseberry (The Lion King), Christine Shepard (Head Over Heels), Chiara Trentalange (Girl from the North Country) and Lamont Walker II (MJ: The Musical).
Hercules features music by Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Newsies) and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Zippel (City of Angels, Mulan) and a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie) and Kwame Kwei-Armah (Artistic Director of London's Young Vic), based on the Disney film written by Ron Clements, John Musker, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The music is supervised and arranged by Michael Kosarin (Aladdin, Broadway and PMP’s Newsies, animated film Hercules), with orchestrations by Danny Troob (Broadway and PMP’s Newsies, animated films Hercules, Beauty and the Beast) and Joseph Joubert (Caroline, or Change; Motown: the Musical), dance music arrangements by Mark Hummel (Broadway and PMP’s Newsies, Sister Act), and music direction by Ted Arthur (Moulin Rouge!, The Prom). Choreography is by Chase Brock (PMP’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Be More Chill) and Tanisha Scott (Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls). Hercules is directed by Obie Award winner Lear deBessonet (Into the Woods).
The production also features scenic design by Dane Laffrey (Once on This Island, PMP’s Benny & Joon), costume design by Emilio Sosa (Broadway and PMP’s On Your Feet!, Motown the Musical), lighting design by Jeff Croiter (Broadway and PMP’s Newsies, Broadway’s Cost of Living), sound design by Kai Harada (Kimberly Akimbo, The Band’s Visit), puppet design and direction by James Ortiz (Lincoln Center’s The Skin of Our Teeth, Into the Woods on Broadway), hair and wig design by Mia M. Neal (Shuffle Along, Ain’t No Mo’), and special effects design by Jeremy Chernick (Beetlejuice, Aladdin). Holly Coombs (Aladdin, Mean Girls) is the production stage manager. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting (PMP’s Bandstand, Chasing Rainbows).
Produced by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions.
The show will begin performances at Paper Mill Playhouse on Thursday, February 16, and play through Sunday, March 19, 2023. Opening night is set for Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
This new stage work will be available to the licensing market at a later date.
Tickets starting at $35 may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at papermill.org. Groups of 10 or more may receive up to an up to 30% discount on tickets and should call 973.376.4343. Students may purchase $20 tickets. Patrons under 30 years old may purchase tickets for $30 to any performance. Three-show subscription packages are also available starting at just $111.
Paper Mill Playhouse provides award-winning access programs and services, including audio-described performances and sensory seminars for the blind, open-captioned performances, Braille and large-print programs, and assistive listening devices.
Programs, dates, and artists are subject to change.
Paper Mill Playhouse, recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is a nationally renowned not-for-profit theater under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Michael Stotts (Executive Director). A beloved New Jersey arts institution since 1938, Paper Mill creates and produces groundbreaking new musicals and reimagined classics. Several productions have gone on to Broadway and launched national tours, including Disney’s Newsies, Les Misérables, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Bronx Tale, and Bandstand. The theater is also the home to an award-winning center for musical theater education and artist training, with outreach programs that impact thousands of students each year.
As one of the nation’s premier musical theaters, Paper Mill fosters a creative environment to advance the art form, educate students, develop future theater lovers, nurture inclusion, and provide access for all. We acknowledge that our theater stands on the traditional land of the Lenni-Lenape, and we honor the Indigenous people who inhabited it for thousands of years before European settlers arrived. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
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