Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Executive Director), recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, has announced initial casting for the all-new musical production of Disney’s Hercules. The production will feature Bradley Gibson (The Lion King, A Bronx Tale The Musical) as Hercules, Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (Broadway’s The Music Man 2022 revival, Oklahoma!) as Hades, Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin, Hamilton) as Phil, and Isabelle McCalla (Aladdin, The Prom) as Meg.
Hercules features music by Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Zippel (City of Angels, Mulan) and a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie) and Kwame Kwei-Armah (Artistic Director of London's Young Vic), based on the Disney film written by Ron Clements, John Musker, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi, and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The music is supervised by Michael Kosarinand choreography is by Chase Brock and Tanisha Scott. Hercules is directed by Obie Award winner Lear deBessonet (Into the Woods).
The show will begin performances at Paper Mill Playhouse on Thursday, February 16 and play through Sunday, March 19, 2023. Opening night is set for Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
It’s a terrific twist of fates! The inspired Disney animated film is now a mythical new musical adventure. Hercules is the divinely funny story of an honest-to-Zeus hero on a quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Is love a possibility too? Oh, Hades, yes! The roof-raising score features all the hits you love from the film, including the Oscar-nominated song “Go the Distance,” as well as “Zero to Hero” and “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” along with new songs written for the stage. This cheeky, Greeky muse-ical earned a New York Times’ Critic’s Pick for its original Public Theater production in Central Park, with the New York Post cheering it as “wise-cracking, heartfelt and emotionally rich.” And that’s the gospel truth!
This new stage work will be available to the licensing market at a later date.
Paper Mill Playhouse offers its audiences the opportunity to enhance their theater experience with behind-the-scenes views of mainstage productions, including Q&A with the cast. Paper Mill Prologues and The Director’s Viewpoint will be available to everyone on the Paper Mill Playhouse mobile app.
Tickets start at $35 may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at papermill.org. Groups of 10 or more may receive up to a up to 30% discount on tickets and should call 973.376.4343. Students may purchase $20 tickets. Patrons under 30 years old may purchase tickets for $30 to any performance. Three-show and four-show subscription packages are also available starting at just $111.
Paper Mill Playhouse offers award-winning access programs and services, including audio-described performances and sensory seminars for the blind, open-captioned performances, Braille and large-print programs, and assistive listening devices.
Programs, dates, and artists are subject to change. Complete casting to be announced at a later date.