Belinda Allyn, seen in Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of West Side Story, will return to the New Jersey theatre as Belle in the upcoming production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Allyn will star alongside Tally Sessions (Paper Mill’s South Pacific), who will play the Beast in the spring production. Performances begin May 29.
The Disney musical, slated to return to Broadway, features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton.
Rounding out the principal cast are Tony Award nominee Gavin Lee (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Lumiere, Joel Blum (Show Boat) as Maurice, Jenelle Chu (Bernhardt/Hamlet) as Babette, Kevin Curtis (Paper Mill’s A Chorus Line) as Lefou, Donna English (Paper Mill’s Lend Me a Tenor) as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Stacia Fernandez (Paper Mill’s Bandstand) as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Ligon (Hello Dolly!) as Cogsworth, and Stephen Mark Lukas (The Book of Morman) as Gaston, with Gianni David Faruolo (Fun Home) and Antonio Watson (This Ain’t No Disco) alternating in the role of Chip.
They will be joined by Joe Bigelow, Monica Cioffi, Brittany Conigatti, Justin DeParis, Stephen DiBiase, Jennifer Evans, Annie Gagen, David Michael Garry, Leeds Hill, Brett Michael Lockley, Michael Milkanin, Corinne Munsch, Brett Pederson, Alexa Racioppi, Taylor Rosenberger, Molly Rushing, Bronwyn Tarboton, Matthew Vincent Taylor, and Cynthia Thorne.
The staging will feature scenic design by Kelly James Tighe, costume design by Leon Dobkowski, lighting design by Charlie Morrison, sound design by Matt Kraus, hair and wig design by Leah J. Loukas, makeup design by Dena Olivieri, and fight direction by Rick Sordelet. The production stage manager is Andrea Cibelli. Casting by Telsey + Company, Rebecca Scholl, CSA.
Paper Mill will present an autism-friendly performance June 26 at 1:30pm. For tickets and more information on the run visit Papermill.org.
