Casey Cott is graduating from Riverdale and heading to Paris — via Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical!
Entertainment Weekly reported Monday morning that Cott, known for playing Kevin Keller in the CW’s Riverdale, will be the next Christian in the aforementioned Broadway musical. Cott’s run in the show begins August 1. Riverdale is currently in its final season, and the Tony Award-winning Moulin Rouge! will not only be Cott’s first project post-Riverdale but also his Broadway debut.
Cott is no stranger to musicals, and this is about much more than just Riverdale. From Heathers: The Musical to Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the CW series has done several musical episodes throughout its seven-season run. Cott’s character even has an interest in theatre, often taking lead of the in-show musicals as the director. But Riverdale has simply shown a glimpse at Cott’s musical theatre talents.
In 2016, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama — known to be one of the best musical theatre programs in the U.S. In 2019, he performed at the renowned Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in the titular role for The Who’s Tommy.
Ahead of Riverdale’s first musical episode in 2018, Cott revealed in an interview with MTV News that he auditioned for the musical adaptation of Mean Girls, which ran on Broadway from April 2018 to March 2020. Seeing him transfer to North Shore and take on the hallways of a different fictional high school would’ve been so fetch. Nevertheless, it’s great that he gets to make his Broadway debut!
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is based on the movie of the same name, starring Ewan McGregor as Christian. In the stage production especially, Christian is a romantic with an innate sense of wonder and freshness but also innocence and naivety. It will be so exciting to see how Cott brings those qualities to the role.
“Playing Christian is more than a dream come true,” Cott told Entertainment Weekly. “Growing up as a theater kid, you just dream that one day you have the privilege of being on Broadway. It’s astounding.”
When Cott takes the stage at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre for the first time in August, he won’t be the first in his family to be on Broadway. His older brother, Corey, is also an actor but primarily a Broadway/stage performer; he was the longtime lead in Disney’s hit Broadway musical Newsies, played the romantic lead opposite Vanessa Hudgens in her Broadway debut of Gigi, and starred in the Tony Award-winning original musical Bandstand.
So Cott may not officially be a part of the Broadway community yet, but he is familiar with it. In fact, he already knows his Satine, Courtney Reed — who originated the role of Princess Jasmine for Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway.
Following the casting announcement, Reed posted a photo on Instagram of herself with Cott and Benjamin Rauhala, a music director who most notably has worked with Ariana DeBose. The image is from 2017’s “Broadway Loves Kelly Clarkson” concert at the popular Broadway supper club 54 Below.
When Cott takes over as Christian, he will become the third actor to take on the Broadway role full-time, following two fan-favorite Broadway tenors. Aaron Tveit (Schmigadoon) originated the role on Broadway, and Derek Klena (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) — who was in the same fantasy football league as Cott, per Entertainment Weekly — currently stars as Christian.
See Casey Cott embrace the Bohemian ideals of freedom, beauty, truth, and love during his run in Moulin Rouge! The Musical from August 1 to December 3.
