Keala Settle to join & Juliet as show announces new cast plans

The Greatest Showman star Keala Settle will join the WhatsOnStage Award-winning musical & Juliet, making her West End debut in the process.

Settle, who has appeared in a range of shows including Waitress, Rent: Live, Les Misérables and Hands on a Hardbody, will join the hit twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet, which has a book by David West Read and tunes penned by the master songmaker Max Martin.

Settle will be performing the role of Nurse (taking over from Melanie La Barrie) from 29 March 2022. Joining her will be Miriam-Teak Lee – who was awarded the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in 2020 for her performance as Juliet – leading a cast including Cassidy Janson as Anne Hathaway, Oliver Tompsett as William Shakespeare, Tim Mahendran as Francois and Alex Thomas-Smith as May.

David Bedella (Lance) and Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo) will play their final performances on 26 March, with new faces taking on these roles from 29 March (further plans are to be revealed).

The ensemble currently includes Roshani Abbey, Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Abiola Efunshile, Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Billy Nevers, Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Kirstie Skivington, Alex Tranter, Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson. Producers have confirmed that a full cast will be unveiled at a later date – which will include any changes to the ensemble.

Directed by Luke Sheppard, the musical has choreography by Jennifer Weber, set design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Paloma Young, musical supervision, orchestration and arrangement by Bill Sherman, lighting by Howard Hudson, sound by Gareth Owen, video design by Andrzej Goulding, musical direction and additional arrangements by Dominic Fallacaro and casting by Stuart Burt.

It is now booking to 24 September 2022, with Settle performing until 18 June.