Cast announced for new musical BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOL at Southwark Playhouse
The London cast and creative team have been announced for the world premiere of new musical Beautiful Little Fool, which plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 15 January-28 February 2026.
With music and lyrics by Hannah Corneau and a book by Mona Mansour, Beautiful Little Fool tells the story of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald through the eyes of their daughter Scottie, as she rediscovers the lives and writings of her brilliant and tempestuous parents.
The London cast will star Lauren Ward (Matilda, Dear Evan Hansen, Stranger Things: The First Shadow) as Scottie, Declan Bennett (Once, Jesus Christ Superstar, Moulin Rouge!) as F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Hannah Corneau (Wicked, Renascence, Frozen) as Zelda.
Beautiful Little Fool will be directed by Michael Greif with orchestrations by Adam Rothenberg, with musical direction by Jerome van den Berghe, set design by Shankho Chaudhuri, lighting by Ben Stanton, and sound by Domnic Bilkey.
Producer Mark Cortale, who commissioned the musical in 2022 through the developmental theatre lab New Works Provincetown, said: “It is thrilling to welcome Lauren and Declan to join Hannah in bringing this extraordinary new musical to London. The concept album has already given audiences a taste of Hannah’s remarkable score, and now we cannot wait to see the show come alive on stage at Southwark Playhouse.”
The Beautiful Little Fool concept album, recorded in New York and featuring Jessie Mueller, Ryan Vasquez and Hannah Corneau, will be released on 24 October. The first single, ‘So Alive’ (sung by Jessie Mueller), is available now on all streaming platforms.
