To say that Jelani Alladin is going from zero to hero would probably insult the stage musical version of Frozen, so we’ll do away with that and just say that he’s going to star in the Public Theater’s stage version of Hercules this summer. Alladin, who played Kristoff in the original cast of Frozen, will lead a cast that includes Roger Bart as Hades (fun fact, Bart was the singing voice of the young Hercules in Disney’s animated movie), Jeff Hiller as Panic, James Monroe Iglehart as Phil, Ramona Keller as Thalia, Tamika Lawrence as Calliope, Krysta Rodriguez as Meg (star of Hit List as seen on Smash!), and Rema Webb as Terpischore. There will also be a featured performance from the Broadway Inspirational Voices.
This production of Hercules is based on the Disney movie and produced with Disney, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by David Zippel, book by Kristoffer Diaz, and directed by Lear deBessonet. It’s part of the Public’s Public Works initiative, which means that people from the New York community will also take part in the show, as was previously done with productions like last year’s musical Twelfth Night. This production will include six new songs and could well live on in some form in the future, but for now, it’ll run from only August 31 to September 8 at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, so good luck getting tickets.