Broadway Cast Creative Team

Morgan Dudley, breakout star of Disney’s Descendants: The Rise of Red, is having one of her busiest years to date with the release of her record-breaking movie! Not only captivating on camera, Morgan’s undeniable presence continues to be unmatched on any stage she finds herself. Whether on Broadway or belting the National Anthem at a New York Knicks playoff game, Morgan is the definition of a multi-hyphenate superstar. Along with the continued success of the film, Morgan will be releasing her own original music in August!

Descendants: The Rise of Red broke viewing records for its trailer, and now breaks streaming viewership records for Disney+, as reported by Deadline. The film follows Red and Chloe, daughters of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella, respectively, as they travel back in time to thwart an imminent coup. In the film, Morgan brings to life Ella, a young Cinderella who must team up with her time-traveling daughter from the future for the sake of Auradon and the Wonderland Kingdom.

While Morgan continues her acting journey, she is simultaneously working on her music career, crafting original songs that will resonate with her growing fanbase. Drawing inspiration from the careers of icons like Ariana Grande and Zendaya, Morgan’s pop-infused sound, enriched with acoustic elements, promises to leave a lasting impression on listeners worldwide when her first song is released in late August. 

Morgan’s upbringing in Hiram, Georgia was steeped in the melodies of Alanis Morissette, setting the stage for her musical aspirations. Even before she was born, her mother sang karaoke renditions of Jagged Little Pill, igniting a connection to the musical that would give her the opportunity of a lifetime. At only 20 years old, Morgan made the bold leap to New York City, where she secured a coveted role in the acclaimed Broadway production of Jagged Little Pill. This transformative experience molded her into the fearless performer and confident artist she is today.

When Morgan isn’t busy on set, prepping for roles, auditioning, or working on her music, she splits her time between New York, Los Angeles, and her home state of Georgia. She enjoys staying active with dance classes, spending time with friends and family, and keeping up with the latest in fashion and skincare.

Kurt Elling, a two-time Grammy Award winner, is making his Broadway debut as Hermes in Hadestown. The Chicago-based musician is renowned for a signature, rich sound and an inventive, individualized body of work. With a singular style of contemporary Beat lyricism and vocalese-writing ingenuity, he has expanded the parameters of vocal jazz and increased its vocabulary. The New York Times called Kurt Elling “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time.” The Guardian (UK) pronounced him “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers.”

Over twenty-five years of touring and recording, Elling has earned an array of top honors, including 17 Grammy nominations and a host of international awards. He’s spent two decades leading the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls and has won fifteen Jazz Journalists Association Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year.

Elling has performed in over 70 countries, headlining the world’s top festivals and venues. Collaborators within the jazz world’s elite include Branford Marsalis, Danilo Pérez, Fred Hersch, Charlie Hunter, and the Yellowjackets. Elling is in constant demand as a featured soloist with premier orchestras and big bands around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Concert Symphony, WDR Big Band, and the Count Basie, Metropole, and Village Vanguard Orchestras.

Beyond the concert stage, Elling has written, directed and performed in multidisciplinary, large-scale commissions for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the City of Chicago. Elling enjoyed a world premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center of The Big Blind, a jazz musical he co-wrote with Grammy-nominated songwriter Phil Galdston.

Elling has appeared at the White House multiple times, including a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He served six years as a Trustee and two years as National Vice Chairman of The Recording Academy. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Chicago Jazz Alliance and as the Audrey L. Weaver Jazz Advisor to the Ravinia Festival.

Wildflowers, Vol. 3 – Elling’s new duo EP with acclaimed pianist and composer Christian Sands – will be released August 22, 2025. His album recorded with the WDR Big Band, …in the Brass Palace, is due February 2026.

REBECCA NAOMI JONES Broadway: Stereophonic, Oklahoma! (Drama Desk nom), Significant Other, Hedwig and The Angry Inch, American Idiot, Passing Strange. Off-Broadway highlights: I Can Get It for You Wholesale (Audelco nom), Big Love (Drama League nom), Murder Ballad (Lilly Award, Lucille Lortel nom), As You Like It, Marie and Rosetta, The Fortress of Solitude, Love's Labour's Lost. Select television: Genius: Aretha (series regular), Your Friends and Neighbors (recurring), Raising Kanan (recurring), Black Cake (recurring), Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (recurring), High Maintenance (recurring), The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, And Just Like That, Inside Amy Schumer, Difficult People, Law & Order: SVU. Films: The Big Sick, Someone Great, The Outside Story, French Fries, Most Likely To Murder, Ratter, Ordinary World, Passing Strange, Broadway Idiot. Solo concerts: Lincoln Center American Songbook, Apollo Cafe. Podcast: The Wreckage. Rebecca holds a BFA in Drama from the University of North Carolina: School of the Arts.  

John is a proud member of the OBC of Hadestown and played Orpheus on the North American Tour. John recently closed out a sold out run in the company of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. Other credits include: Fun Home (Broadway), Wicked (Nat’l Tour), The Secret Garden (Ahmanson), Newsies (Music Circus), Rock of Ages (Las Vegas), and Green Day’s American Idiot: The Musical (International Tour). Boston Conservatory Grad. John is also a music educator based in LA. Follow along at @johnakrause. For my Uncle John. 

Paulo Szot received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards for his Broadway debut in South Pacific at the Lincoln Center Theater and an Olivier nomination for the same production at the Barbican, London. He was born in São Paulo and studied at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

Other work in musical theatre: My Fair Lady, Candide, Chicago (São Paulo); Evita (Sydney, Melbourne, The Muny); Chicago, & Juliet (Broadway); Here We Are (London, Royal National Theatre).

Opera: ten seasons with the Metropolitan Opera; collaborations with La Scala, Paris Opera, Teatro Real (Madrid), Bayerische Staatsoper, Canadian Opera, Washington Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera di Roma, Opéra de Bordeaux, and Opéra de Marseille.

Concerts: multiple collaborations with Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, New York Pops, American Pops, OSESP, Barcelona Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Albums include Jardim Noturno; Broadway cast recordings: South Pacific and & Juliet.

Jack Wolfe is an Olivier award nominated actor, who recently played the part of Gabe in Next to Normal at the Donmar Warehouse and in the West End at Wyndham’s Theatre. This role also garnered him a Critic’s Cricle Award, a Stage Debut Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination and a win at the WhatsOnStage Awards for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical. Some of Jack’s other stage credits include Moritz in the Spring Awakening 15th Anniversary Concert at the Victoria Palace Theatre, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at Chichester Festival Theatre, The Magician’s Elephant at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Pinocchio at the National Theatre, among others.