At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in 2024, it was revealed that The Greatest Showman was announced that it was leaping from the silver screen to the stage. The show will be opening at the Bristol Hippodrome on March 15, 2026. This will be for a very limited engagement. Ahead of its opening, the cast for this highly anticipated musical has been revealed.
Leading the cast is lead by Lorna Courtney as Anne Wheeler, Samantha Barks as Charity Barnum, and Oliver Tompsett as P.T. Barnum. They are joined by Ben Joyce as Phillip Carlyle, Vajèn van den Bosch as Jenny Lind, and Malinda Parris as Lettie Lutz. Children in the cast include Mia Raggio, Angelica Pearl Scott, and Maya Sewrey as Caroline and Young Charity; Harly Gill, Ellie McArdle, and Eleanor Sebastian as Helen; and Max Bispham, Joel Tennant, and Clark Young as Young Barnum. Josh St. Clair will be the alternate for P.T. Barnum.
There is quite an ensemble for this show as well. This includes Derek Aidoo, Cornelius Atkinson, Matt Bateman, Nikki Bentley, Courtenay Brady, Thea Bunting, Amara Campbell, Jonathan Cordin, Angus Good, Ryesha Higgs, Barney Hudson, Annie Knight, Nathan Louis-Fernand, Liam Marcellino, Ayesha Maynard, Suzie McAdam, Emily McCarthy, Will Meager, Michael Patterson, Stuart Matthew Price, Emile Ruddock, Annie Southall, and Zoe Schubert. Swings Abigail Climer, Bobby Cookson, Katrina Dix, Zack Guest, Georgie Hutchinson, Fallon Mondlane, Stephen Rolley, Jess Smith, Blake Tuke, and Santino Zapico, and standby Katie Tinkinson will round out the company. Casting is by Natalie Gallacher, for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting.
The show will feature the GRAMMY Award-winning and Oscar-nominated song by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen), including The Greatest Show, A Million Dreams, Come Alive, Rewrite the Stars, Never Enough, and the Golden Globe Award-winning This Is Me. There will also be brand new songs that were written by the pair specifically for the show. The book for this production is by Tim Federle (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Tuck Everlasting). This musical adaptation is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Disney’s Hercules).
“It’s an absolute joy to finally share our incredible cast with the world—led by the brilliant Oliver Tompsett and Samantha Barks,” says Nicholaw in a statement. “After an exhaustive search we have gathered a group of artists whose talent will bring to life this fantastic story—with a theatrical new book by Tim Federle and the beloved score created by Pasek and Paul. Together with a world-class creative team, we are so excited to bring this story to life for the first time on stage.”
“Roles like this don’t come along very often, so it’s an absolute privilege to be taking on this incredible character in the original company of The Greatest Showman,” says Tompsett. “I’m so very fortunate to be surrounded by the most brilliant cast—Sam, Ben, Lorna, Malinda, and Vajèn—and can’t wait to begin the creative process with Casey and the team in the rehearsal room.”
“I’m thrilled to be rejoining the Disney family to play Charity Barnum,” added Barks. “There is something utterly magical about The Greatest Showman—the songs have become instant classics—and I’m so excited to partner with Olly to bring this incredible couple and their enduring love to life on stage.”
The full cast and crew can be found on the website for The Greatest Showman. Tickets for the show will begin on November 4th for pre-sale, with general sales of tickets beginning on November 6th. Both will be at TheGreatestShowman.co.uk. The Greatest Showman was originally released on the silver screen in 2017. Fans undoubtedly hope that after its arrival on the stage in the United Kingdom that it will make its way across the ocean to Broadway for American audiences.
What do you think of the casting for The Greatest Showman? Would you like to see this show? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
