Full Cast Announced For UK Tour of Disney's WINNIE THE POOH Musical

The UK and Ireland premiere will begin performances at London's Riverside Studios from 17 March.

By: Jan. 31, 2023
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Full Cast Announced For UK Tour of Disney's WINNIE THE POOH Musical

The full cast has been announced for Disney's Winnie the Pooh. The UK and Ireland premiere will begin performances at London's Riverside Studios (Hammersmith) from 17 March, with an official opening on 26 March. The show will then tour the UK and Ireland until September 2023. Tickets for Riverside Studios and the UK & Ireland Tour are now on sale.

Sharing the role of Winnie the Pooh in London will be the previously announced Jake Bazel (who originated the role in New York) and Benjamin Durham (Young Frankenstein). Benjamin will play the title role on tour. The much-loved characters of Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo will be brought to life by an ensemble of performers, including Laura Bacon (Britain's Got Talent, Star Wars), Harry Boyd (The Play That Goes Wrong, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story), Alex Cardall (Evita, The Osmonds: A New Musical), Chloe Gentles (Mamma Mia!, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Lottie Grogan (Smurfs Save Spring: The Musical, The Lips for Puppets with Guys) and Robbie Noonan (Avenue Q UK Tour, Jack and the Beanstalk).

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, a new adventure is about to happen. A.A. Milne's beloved characters, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (and Tigger too!), will all arrive on stage in a beautifully-crafted musical stage adaptation.

In a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood, this fresh stage adaptation is told with impressive life-size puppetry, exciting new stories and featuring characters that have played iconic roles in the lives of children for generations. Accompanying the modern narrative is an original score by Nate Edmondson, featuring some of the Grammy award-winning songs written by The Sherman Brothers for the original animated features, including Winnie the Pooh, The Blustery Day, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and Whoop-De-Dooper Bounce, plus A.A. Milne's The More It Snows (featuring music by Carly Simon) and Sing Ho in a new arrangement.

Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation is developed and presented by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller (whose spectacular puppetry is omnipresent in the acclaimed productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Paddington Gets in a Jam and Sesame Street the Musical).

Inspired by the beloved books by A. A. Milne and the classic Disney featurettes, the production was welcomed in New York in 2021, where it broke theatre box office records for the largest advance, with rave reviews where it was called "Enchanting!" (Time Out); "Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation is magical, sweet as honey, and full of humor. It's a wholesome, delightful, enchanting piece of theatre," (BroadwayWorld); "A perfect reintroduction to live theater. It's a captivating adventure with spectacular puppetry," (Mommy Poppins); "Charming and whimsical stage show that Pooh surpasses every expectation I had for it," (The Laughing Place); "Winnie the Pooh is delightfully first-rate," (Theatre Pizzazz); "Irresistible. 'Winnie the Pooh' is sweeter than honey," (DC Metro Arts); "An hour of bountiful joy," (New York Theatre Guide); "Mesmerizing and lifestyle puppets and original Sherman Brothers tunes, the beautiful new Winnie the Pooh musical is must-see," (Theatrely); "The wonderful thing about musicals is that musicals are wonderful things. The New 'Winnie the Pooh' Musical Is Sweeter than Honey," (Toy Insider).

Tour Dates

31 May - 4 June Southampton Mayflower Theatre 02380 711811

mayflower.org.uk

9 - 11 June Milton Keynes Theatre

www.atgtickets.com/venues/miltonkeynes

16 - 18 June Birmingham Hippodrome 0844 338 5000

www.birminghamhippodrome.com/

20 - 22 June Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 0114 249 6000

www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

23 - 25 June Brighton Theatre Royal

www.atgtickets.com/brighton

28 June - 1 July Nottingham Theatre Royal 0115 989 5555

www.trch.co.uk

7 - 9 July Richmond Theatre

www.atgtickets.com/Richmond

14 - 16 July Aberdeen His Majesty's Theatre

aberdeenperformingarts.com

18 - 19 July Edinburgh Festival Theatre 0131 529 6000

capitaltheatres.com

20 - 22 July Glasgow Kings Theatre

www.atgtickets.com/venues/kings-theatre

24 - 26 July Manchester Opera House

www.atgtickets.com/manchester

28 - 30 July Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre 0818719 377 (ROI)

bordgaisenergytheatre.ie 08442485101 (UK)

1 - 2 August York Grand Opera House

www.atgtickets.com/york

3 - 5 August Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre

www.wmc.org.uk

7 - 9 August Newcastle Theatre Royal 0844 811 2121

www.theatreroyal.co.uk

11 - 13 August Guildford Yvonne Arnaud 01483 44 00 00

www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/

14 - 16 August Blackpool Grand Theatre 01253 290190

www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/

18 - 20 August Canterbury Marlowe Theatre 01227 787787

marlowetheatre.com/

25 - 27 August Southend Cliffs Pavilion 0343 310 0030

thecliffspavilion.co.uk

29 - 30 August High Wycombe Wycombe Swan 0343 310 0060

wycombeswan.co.uk

31 August - 2 Sept Cheltenham Everyman Theatre 01242 572573

everymantheatre.org.uk

Further tour dates to be announced.




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