Gavin Lee to Play Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast at Paper Mill Playhouse

Gavin Lee will light up the stage of Paper Mill Playhouse this spring. The two-time Tony-nominated alum of SpongeBob SquarePants and Mary Poppins has been cast as Lumiere in the Millburn, NJ theater's new staging of Beauty and the Beast. The previously announced production, directed by Mark S. Hoebee, choreographed by Alex Sanchez and music-directed by Michael Borth, will run from May 29 through June 30.

Joining Lee in the cast will be Belinda Allyn (Allegiance) as Belle, Tally Sessions (Anastasia) as The Beast, Joel Blum (Show Boat) as Maurice, Jenelle Chu (Bernhardt/Hamlet) as Babette, Kevin Curtis (A Chorus Line) as Lefou, Donna English (Lend Me a Tenor) as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Stacia Fernandez (Bandstand) as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Ligon (Hello, Dolly!) as Cogsworth and Stephen Mark Lukas (The Book of Mormon) as Gaston, with Gianni David Faruolo (Fun Home) and Antonio Watson (This Ain’t No Disco) alternating as Chip.

They will be joined by Joe Bigelow, Monica Cioffi, Brittany Conigatti, Justin DeParis, Stephen DiBiase, Jennifer Evans, Annie Gagen, David Michael Garry, Leeds Hill, Brett Michael Lockley, Michael Milkanin, Corinne Munsch, Brett Pederson, Alexa Racioppi, Taylor Rosenberger, Molly Rushing, Bronwyn Tarboton, Matthew Vincent Taylor and Cynthia Thorne.

Singing teapots and candlesticks, an evil spell and an unlikely love story come together in Beauty and the Beast, featuring a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the Oscar-winning animated feature and including all of the movie's original songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, plus additional gems by Menken and Tim Rice.