Deborah Lew and Stephen R. Buntrock will step into the roles of Belle and Gaston in the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast on December 26, replacing Sarah Uriarte Berry and Donny Osmond. Uriarte Berry and Osmond had been playing their roles since September 19 and will give their final performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Christmas Eve.
Lew made her Broadway debut in the recent revival of The Threepenny Opera at Studio 54. New York City Opera credits include Candide as the Pink Sheep and Cinderella. Off-Broadway, she appeared as Psyche in the musical Cupid and Psyche. Regional credits include Maria in West Side Story Joseph Jefferson Award nomination, Isabelle in Amour, the title role in Cinderella and Kim in Miss Saigon.
Buntrock's Broadway credits include Oklahoma! Curly, Titanic Barrett, Jane Eyre St. John, the 10th anniversary company of Les Miserables Enjolras, and The Phantom of the Opera. On tour, he has appeared in Cameron Mackintosh's Martin Guerre Arnaud du Thil, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond Rueben and The Phantom of the Opera. Regional credits include Sweeney Todd Anthony, Hot Mikado Nanki-Poo, Cinderella The Prince, and South Pacific Lt. Cable. Buntrock received Joseph Jefferson nominations for Miss Saigon Chris, Oklahoma! Curly, and Brigadoon Charlie.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast celebrated its 5,000th performance this year, becoming Broadway's longest running American musical and the sixth longest running show of all time.
