Josh Groban, Rita Moreno and Broadway star Joshua Henry are joining the cast of the 30th anniversary special “Beauty and the Beast,” Disney revealed Friday at the D23 Expo.
Groban will star as the Beast, Moreno will narrate, and Henry will play the villainous Gaston. He joins the previously announced singer/songwriter HER as Belle.
Presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, the two-hour special will be taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios and airs Thursday, December 15 at 8-10 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the following day on Disney+.
John M. Choo will executive produce and Hamish Hamilton is set to direct. Additional talent will be announced later.
Grammy-winner Groban made his Broadway debut in 2016 with a Tony-nominated starring role in “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” In spring 2023, he will return to Broadway as the lead role in “Sweeney Todd”.
Henry is best known for his Tony-nominated lead roles in “Carousel,” “The Scottsboro Boys” and “Violet,” and for playing Aaron Burr in “Hamilton.” He played Gerlmarle alongside Roger Bart in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick, Boom” and Jason Momoa in Apple TV+’s “C”. He is currently appearing in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” on Broadway.
Famed EGOT winner Moreno wrapped production on the feature films “Eighty for Brady” and “Fast X” with Sally Field, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and “Fast X”, where she plays Vin Diesel’s grandmother. Last year, she co-starred and was an executive producer on the remake of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”
“Beauty and the Beast” became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the 1992 Academy Awards, where it won Best Original Song for its self-titled theme song.
“Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” is produced by Dune + Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere. Executive producers are Chu, Hamilton, Caitlin Foito, Raj Kapoor, Richard Kraft and Katie Mullan. HER acts as a producer.
