Lead casting revealed for Beautiful Little Fool musical's premiere

Casting has been revealed for the world premiere of Beautiful Little Fool, a new musical exploring the lives of Zelda and F Scott Fitzgerald.

The show is running from 15 January to 28 February 2026 at Southwark Playhouse Borough, with a press night set for 22 January.

With music and lyrics by Broadway’s Hannah Corneau and a book by Mona Mansour, the production is directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal, Dear Evan Hansen). Told through the eyes of Scottie Fitzgerald, the story revisits the turbulent marriage of her parents.

Lauren Ward will play Scottie, alongside Declan Bennett as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Corneau as Zelda.

The creative team features orchestrations by Adam Rothenberg, musical direction by Jerome van den Berghe (Stereophonic), set design by Shankho Chaudhuri (Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse), lighting by five-time Tony nominee Ben Stanton (Fun Home, The Notebook), and sound by Domnic Bilkey (The Lehman Trilogy). No casting director has been disclosed by the produciton.

Originally commissioned by New Works Provincetown, the musical is produced by Mark Cortale, Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese. Cortale commented: “It is thrilling to welcome Lauren and Declan to join Hannah in bringing this extraordinary new musical to London. The concept album has already given audiences a taste of Hannah’s remarkable score, and now we cannot wait to see the show come alive on stage at Southwark Playhouse.”

The Beautiful Little Fool concept album, featuring Jessie Mueller, Ryan Vasquez and Corneau, will be released on 24 October 2025, with the single “So Alive” — performed by Mueller — already available to stream.