Andrew Lloyd Webber casts unknown dancer as prince in 'Cinderella' musical

The dancer auditioned for a background role in the production and landed one of the leads.

Cinderella's prince has arrived! Ivano Turco will play Prince Sebastian in Andrew Lloyd Webber's forthcoming musical Cinderella, which is set to start performances at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on 30 April 2021. The Zimababwe-born dancer will make his West End debut in the role. 

"I'm overjoyed to introduce Ivano Turco as our Prince Sebastian in Cinderella," Lloyd Webber told the Evening Standard. "I'm convinced audiences will fall in love with him, as we did. Straight out of college, Ivano initially came in to audition as a dancer but has a natural acting talent, a wonderful voice, and an innate charm and warmth and from the day we met I just knew I'd found our Prince!"

Turco joins Carrie Hope Fletcher, who will star as the titular princess, in the new adaptation penned by Lloyd Webber and Emerald Fennell. Turco studied at Urdang Academy in Islington, and he was set to appear in West Side Story at the Royal Exchange, Manchester before the run was cancelled due to Covid-19.

"It was surreal," Turco told the Evening Standard about finding out he got the role "I had to keep looking at my phone to make sure the call had happened and I didn't dream it. It still feels weird now saying: 'My role'. I can't believe it. It really is the stuff of fairy tales. It is a magical story." 

Tickets for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella are available now. Book Cinderella tickets today.

^{Photo credit: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ivano Turco at the Gillian Lynne Theatre}