Bless my soul, Herc is truly on a roll and here comes the West End cast of Disney's Hercules!!
Like Aladdin, Hercules' road to the stage hasn't always been easy. Premiering initially as a single act Public Works production in 2019, a long awaited two act version of Hercules finally premiered at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse for a limited run in 2023, but the show still wasn't quite where Disney felt it should be.
Enter Casey Nicholaw. Yes, that Casey Nicholaw! Brought in with a mandate to essentially rework the show from the ground up, Casey's vision of Hercules premiered in Hamburg last year and is now making its way to London this summer!
Today we finally got the full cast announcement for the show and there's definitely some familiar faces in the mix!
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| The original West End cast of Hercules. Photo by Matt Crockett |
Luke Brady (As You Like It, SuperYou, Assassins, The Prince of Egypt) stars as Hercules and he is joined by Mae Ann Jorolan (Hercules (Hamburg), Aladdin (Hamburg), Hamilton (Hamburg)) as Meg and Trevor Dion Nicholas (Hadestown, Next to Normal, Hamilton, Aladdin (Broadway & West End)) as Phil.
These three heroes will be up against Stephen Carlile (The Lion King, The Go-Between, The Producers) as Hades along with his evil minions Craig Gallivan (Frozen, School of Rock, Billy Elliot, Crime and Punishment) and Lee Zarrett (Harmony, My Fair Lady, On Your Feet!, Hair) as Bob and Charles?!?! Ok, I'll admit I was expecting Pain and Panic. Curious to see the how they're going to play these two!
And telling this legendary story will be the Muses. Candace Furbert (Six, TINA, Dreamgirls, The Color Purple) as Thalia, Sharlene Hector (Here & Now, Standing at the Sky's Edge, A Strange Loop, Derren Brown's Showman) as Clio, Brianna Ogunbawo (Hadestown, Oklahoma, Dreamgirls, The Lion King) as Melpomene, Malinda Parris (The Little Big Things, The Enormous Crocodile, & Juliet, Mary Poppins) as Calliope, and Robyn Rose-Li (Fly More Than You Fall, The Baker's Wife, Tammy Faye, Hairspray) as Terpsichore.
Kamilla Fernandes will be standby Muse.
The ensemble will feature Rhianne Alleyne, Lana Antoniou, Sarah Benbelaid, Joel Benjamin, Jack Butcher, Nicole Carlisle, Jemal Felix, Marie Finlayson, Cruz-Troy Hunter, Travis Kerry, Stefan Lagoulis, Ellie Mitchell, Saffi Needham, Matt Overfield, Ope Sowande, and Jason Leigh Winter with Daisy Barnett, Felipe Bejarano, Francessca Daniella-Baker, Ryesha Higgs, Jordan Livesey, Harriet Millier, Ingrid Olivia, Patrick John Robinson, and Rhys West as swings.
The creative team of the show consists of Alan Menken (Music), David Zippel (Lyrics), Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah (Book), Casey Nicholaw (Director, Choreographer), Tanisha Scott (Co-Choreographer), Dane Laffrey (Scenic & Additional Video Design), Gregg Barnes and Sky Switser (Costume Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), Adam Fisher (Sound Design), George Reeve (Video Design), Michael Kosarin (Music Supervision & Arrangements), Danny Troob and Joseph Joubert (Orchestrations), David Chase (Dance Music Arrangements), Mia M. Neal (Hair & Wig Design), Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche (Make-Up Design), Jeremy Chernick (Special Effects Design), Ariel Reid (Associate Director), Brendon Stimson (Associate Choreographer), Alvin Hough Jr. (Associate Music Supervision), Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting, Joshua Buscher (Puppet Movement Coordinator), Daniel Whitby (UK Music Director), Ben Clare (UK Associate Director & Choreographer), Kyle Seeley (UK Dance Supervisor).
Tickets for Disney's Hercules are on sale now with previews starting Friday 6th June, 2025 and the show's official opening night set for Tuesday 24th June, 2025. And you can get a first look at Luke Brady's incredible rendition of 'Go The Distance' below.
