Lead casting for ”Hercules” stage musical announced

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced casting for its upcoming production of Disney’s Hercules, which is set to begin previews on 16 February 2023 ahead of an official opening night on 1 March. The run is scheduled through to March 19.

Bradley Gibson (The Lion King) will star as Hercules, Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (The Music Man) will play Hades, Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) will play Phil, and Isabelle McCalla (The Prom) will play Meg.

Based on the 1997 animated film, Hercules is about a muscle-bound demi-god and his search for belonging. It features music by Academy Award-winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast), lyrics by Tony Award winner David Zippel (City of Angels), and a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie) and Kwame Kwei-Armah (artistic director of London’s Young Vic).

Lear deBessonet directs, with music supervision by Michael Kosarin and choreography by Chase Brock and Tanisha Scott.

DeBessonet also helmed a 2019 mounting of Hercules as part of the Public Theater’s Public Works program. TheaterMania critic David Gordon called it “better than Frozen and Aladdin.” You can read his full review here.

Further casting for the show is to be revealed.