Beauty and the Beast finds its leads!

Be our guest! The Australian premiere of Disney’s West End megahit is coming to Sydney in 2023

It’s a tale as old as time, but the Australian premiere of Disney Theatrical’s Broadway blockbuster Beauty and the Beast is getting a thoroughly modern makeover ahead of its debut at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in June 2023. Securing the first Australian showing of this new production continues Sydney’s winning streak of bagging the premiere seasons of major international shows, including first Down Under outings of Broadway blockbuster Hamilton, and Disney’s smash-hit stage adaptation of Frozen.

We can now announce the Australian performers who are stepping into the quintessential leading roles of Belle and the Beast: Shubshri Kandiah and Brendan Xavier.

Shubshri is one of Australia’s most exciting new leading ladies. No stranger to donning a crown, she is currently playing the title role in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and is best known for her role as Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin. When Time Out spoke with Kandiah ahead of her run as Cinderella, she spoke about how exciting it was to be representing her community as a woman of South Asian heritage.

“I think that there's definitely been a call out for more diversity. I think it reflects the time that we're in now, the world we live in. Especially in Australia, it’s such a diverse country. So it's nice to see that finally reflected in sectors and screens, and not feel limited because of our skin colour,” she said.

Sydneysider Brendan is a talented newcomer currently performing in Frozen the Musical, which was his first professional musical theatre role.

Director and choreographer Matt West said: “The excitement we felt in the audition room when Brendan and Shubshri performed for us was electric. These two extraordinary young performers bring fresh life to these iconic roles, and we are thrilled that a whole new generation of Australian audiences will have the pleasure of witnessing their interpretation in this new production.”

Stay tuned for the announcement of the full cast of outstanding musical theatre performers and exciting fresh faces who will take on the roles of Lumiere, Gaston, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Le Fou, Maurice, Babette and Madame.

From the teams behind Frozen, Aladdin, The Lion King and Mary Poppins, this new production will be produced in Australia by The Walt Disney Company and Disney Theatrical Productions, under the supervision of Thomas Schumacher.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am on November 3, 2022, and are available from beautyandthebeastmusical.com.au. There’s even accessible pricing options, including some tickets available for as low as $50 (with no additional Ticketmaster transaction fee).

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