New musical Nero releases first listen with Andrew Barth Feldman

A first listen to new musical Nero, starring stage and screen star Andrew Barth Feldman, has been released.

Nero has a book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik (the duo behind the multi-award-winning Spring Awakening), with direction by Lindsay Posner.

The musical’s premiere will come following the recent news of Sheik’s passing.

It will run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 2 November to 5 December 2026, with a press night on 6 November.

The new musical follows the young Nero before he became one of history’s most infamous rulers, exploring his ambitions as an artist and performer before his rise to power.

Watch Feldman perform “And Now He Hounds the Night” below:

The video features guitarist Daniel Kemshell and musical supervisor Phil Bateman. It is produced for Lambert Jackson by Daniel Cornish, with director/editor Jack Douglas and producer Hannah Collins.

Also in the company are Stephen Carlile as Seneca and Sally Dexter as Agrippina, with Nabi Brown as Octavia, Waylon Jacobs as Tigellinus, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky as Poppea, Timo Tatzber as Britannicus and Liam Wrate as Narcissus, alongside Izzy Formby-Jackson, Jodie Knight, Rory Maguire, Zach Parkin and Amy Punter.

The creative team comprises choreographer James Cousins, music supervisor, vocal arranger and co-orchestrator Phil Bateman, musical director and co-orchestrator Ben McQuigg, designer Georgia Lowe, lighting designer Robbie Butler, sound designer Tony Gayle, casting director Harry Blumenau, associate director George Jibson, associate choreographer Georges Hanns, Linbury associate designer Georgios Fytas, costume supervisor Maybelle Laye, props supervisor Props by Eve, and wigs, hair and make-up designer Dominique Hamilton.

The production is produced by SeenSee Company and Park Myung Sung, with general management by Lambert Jackson.