Full Cast Set and Date Extensions For THE BOOK THIEF in Concert

The full cast has been announced for the musical stage adaptation and concert performances of THE BOOK THIEF, based on the best-selling novel by Markus Zusak, which also adds two extra performances due to popular demand. THE BOOK THIEF in concert will now run at the Prince of Wales Theatre (a Delfont Mackintosh Theatre) on Sunday 19 and Sunday 26 October 2025.

Joining the previously announced WhatsOnStage Award winning Melanie La Barrie as Death (Hadestown, West End; &Juliet, West End & Broadway; Wicked, West End) will be Isaac Gryn (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, West End; West Side Story, Leicester Curve) as Max Vandenburg, Jack Lord (War Horse, UK Tour; West Side Story, Manchester ) as Hans Hubermann, Cat Simmons (The Bill, ITV; Killing Eve, BBC; Dune: Part 2, Warner Bros; Come From Away, West End) as Rosa Hubermann, Leo Abad (Bat Out Of Hell, UK Tour; Aladdin, Theatre Royal Portsmouth) as Tommy Müller & Others, Matthew Caputo (Hamilton, West End; Matilda, UK Tour) as Walter Kugler & Others, Oonagh Cox (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, West End; Bonnie & Clyde, UK Tour) as Paula Meminger & Others, Michał Horowicz (The Band's Visit, Donmar Warehouse; Fury & Elysium, The Other Palace) as Eva Vandenburg & Others, Thomas-Lee Kidd (Fiddler on the Roof, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre; Beauty and the Beast, UK Tour) as Mayor Hermann & Others, Nell Martin (Crazy For You, West End; My Fair Lady, Leicester Curve) as Ilsa Hermann & Others, Corinna Powlesland (Grease, West End; An Officer and A Gentleman, UK Tour) as Frau Holtzapfel & Others, Gleanne Purcell-Brown (Shucked, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre; Saving Mozart, The Other Palace) as Barbara Steiner & Others, Edwin Ray (Hello Dolly, West End; We Will Rock You, West End) as Alex Steiner & Others, Timo Tatzber (The Creakers, Theatre Royal Plymouth & Southbank Centre; Jesus Christ Superstar, UK Tour) as Isaac Kleinmann & Others, and Russell Wilcox (Bonnie & Clyde, West End; All My Sons, Old Vic) as Wolfgang Edel & Others.

The musical, based on Markus Zusak's 16 million-copy global best-seller, has a book by award-winning best-selling author Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper & Small Great Things) and Timothy Allen McDonald (adaptor of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka & James and the Giant Peach) with music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson (Apple TV's Central Park & Olaf's Frozen Adventure).

Red. White. Black. These are the colours by which Death remembers. And the colours of a girl who dared to write her story in the ruins.

THE BOOK THIEF is told by Death – they are haunted by humans, cataloguing the colour of the sky at the precise moment they carry each soul away. Tonight's story belongs to Liesel Meminger, twelve years old and unafraid to take what matters: the red of a book found in the snow, the black of a novel rescued from a bonfire, the white of empty pages she will fill with her own defiant words. Down in a cellar painted in shadows, she reads to Max, a Jewish fist-fighter hidden by her foster family, and together they imagine a world lit by language. Above, Hans plays the accordion with fingers stained by tobacco and time, Rosa hurls curses wrapped in warmth, and Rudy runs beside Liesel, chasing a kiss that history won't allow.

THE BOOK THIEF will be directed and choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; Whistle Down The Wind) after original direction by Lotte Wakeham (The Book Thief; Little Shop of Horrors), with libretto by Jodi Picoult (Breathe; Between The Lines) & Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl's James & The Giant Peach and Willy Wonka), music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel & Kate Anderson (Olaf's Frozen Adventure; Central Park), orchestrations & musical supervision by MATTHEW MALONE (Spend, Spend, Spend; Brassed Off), set & costume Design by Good Teeth (Piaf; Aladdin), lighting design by Nic Farman (Allegiance, The Diary of a CEO Live), sound design by Sound Quiet Time (Stanger Things: The First Shadow), casting by Abby Galvin (The Leftbehinds; The Lonely Londoners) and musical direction by Natalie Pound (This Is My Family; Next to Normal).