Barnum announces full cast for 2026 tour

Exclusive: Barnum has announced the full company for its 2026 tour.

The tour, produced by Bill Kenwright Ltd, launches at the Theatre Royal Windsor on 3 February 2026 (previews from 30 January) with Lee Mead starring as PT Barnum. Mead will lead the production through to July, before Matt Rawle reprises his acclaimed 2024 Watermill Theatre performance for the autumn leg.

The production, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle (Picture You Dead, The Last Five Years) and choreographed by Oti Mabuse (Strictly Come Dancing), is billed as a spectacular staging featuring over 20 actor-musicians performing on 150 instruments, alongside acrobats and international circus acts.

First seen at The London Palladium with Michael Crawford’s history-making tightrope walk, the musical follows P T Barnum as he schemes and dreams his way to the top with the support of his wife, Charity.

Featuring Cy Coleman’s score, Michael Stewart’s lyrics and Mark Bramble’s book, Barnum includes numbers such as “Join the Circus”, “Colours of My Life”, “Come Follow the Band” and “Love Makes Such Fools of Us All”.

Joining Mead for the first tour leg will be Monique Young (Mary Poppins) as Charity Barnum, Penny Ashmore (Dr Strangelove) as Jenny Lind, Dominique Planter (The Lion King) as Joice Heth, and Fergus Rattigan (The Wizard of Oz) as General Tom Thumb.  

They are joined by Elena Buck, Gianpaolo Candelaria, Eamonn Cox, James Gill, Jessica Jolleys, Kevin Oliver Jones, Emma Jane Morton, Sophie Precious Muringu, Lennin Nelson-McClure, Emily Odunsi, André Rodrigues, Ben Scott, Laura Sillett, Tom Sowinski, Tom Sterling and Niki Tsonopoulou.

The creative team also features George Dyer (arranger, orchestrator and musical supervisor), Lee Newby (set and costume designer), Matt Nicholson (co-choreographer), Jai Morjaria (lighting designer), Tom Marshall (sound designer), Amy Panter (circus director), Kevin Oliver Jones (musical director), Jess Ellen Knight (associate director), Iona Luvsandorj and Sabrina Joshua (circus instructors), Zippos Circus and The National Centre for Circus Arts (circus consultants), Mervyn Millar and Tracy Waller for Significant Object (puppet designers) and Helen Foan for Significant Object (puppetry director).

The tour begins at Windsor Theatre Royal (30 January to 7 February), before visiting Manchester Palace Theatre (10 to 14 February), York Grand Opera House (24 to 28 February), Brighton Theatre Royal (3 to 7 March), Portsmouth Kings Theatre (10 to 14 March), Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre (17 to 21 March), Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (24 to 28 March), Bradford Alhambra Theatre (31 March to 4 April), Cheltenham Everyman Theatre (7 to 11 April), Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (14 to 18 April), Birmingham Hippodrome (21 to 25 April), Sheffield Lyceum Theatre (28 April to 2 May), Swindon Wyvern Theatre (5 to 9 May), Woking New Victoria Theatre (19 to 23 May), Nottingham Playhouse (26 to 30 May), Hull New Theatre (2 to 6 June), Blackpool Opera House (9 to 13 June), Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre (16 to 20 June), Richmond Theatre (23 to 27 June, on sale soon) and Southend Cliffs Pavilion (30 June to 4 July).

Matt Rawle then takes over the role at Newcastle Theatre Royal (12 to 15 August), followed by the Princess Theatre in Torquay (25 to 29 August). It then heads to Leicester’s Curve (1 to 5 September) and Milton Keynes Theatre (8 to 12 September), before visiting the Liverpool Empire (15 to 19 September). Further dates include the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury (22 to 26 September), the New Wimbledon Theatre in London (29 September to 3 October), and Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre (6 to 10 October). The run concludes with stops at Belfast’s Grand Opera House (13 to 17 October), Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre (20 to 24 October), and the Malvern Festival Theatre (27 to 31 October).