Paul Slade Smith Will Temporarily Replace Kelsey Grammer in FINDING NEVERLAND

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Paul Slade Smith, who originated the role of Mr. Henshaw/Nana in Broadway's Finding Neverland, will temporarily succeed Kelsey Grammer in the role of Charles Frohman/Captain Hook starting April 5th. Kelsey Grammer's final performance will be April 3rd. A permanent replacement will be named soon.

Smith isn't the only new cast member flying to Neverland soon. Tony Yazbeck's scheduled to play his last performance as J.M Barrie on March 27 with Alfie Boe taking over the role on March 29th.

FINDING NEVERLAND follows playwright J.M. Barrie as he summons the courage to become the writer - and the man - he yearns to be. Barrie finds the inspiration he's been missing when he meets the beautiful widow Sylvia and her four young sons: Jack, George, Michael and Peter. Delighted by the boys' hilarious escapades, Barrie conjures the magical world of Neverland and writes a play unlike any the high-society London theatergoers have ever seen. It's a tremendous risk, but as Barrie himself has discovered- when you believe, you can fly.

Directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Pippin , Hair), with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow (Take That) and Grammy winner Eliot Kennedy, book by Olivier Award nominee James Graham, and choreography by Emmy Award-winner Mia Michaels ("So You Think You Can Dance," Cirque du Soleil's Delirium), this new musical, packed with mesmerizing visuals, irresistible songs and plenty of laughs, is a timeless story about the power of imagination... and spectacular proof that you never really have to grow up.

Paul Slade Smith is an actor and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently appearing on Broadway in Finding Neverland, playing Mr. Henshaw/Nana and understudying Kelsey Grammer in the dual role of Charles Frohman/Captain Hook. Paul's previous performing credits include the national tours of Wicked (Doctor Dillamond) and The Phantom of the Opera. In his fourteen years as a Chicago actor, Paul was honored with an After Dark Award and two Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, and appeared in over forty productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Organic Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane and many other companies. Other regional theater credits include: American Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, and two beautiful seasons at Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Paul's play Unnecessary Farce has had over 195 productions - in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Iceland, Singapore and Switzerland. His latest play, The Outsider, which had its world premiere in June of last year at Peninsula Players Theatre, received an industry reading in New York City in early March, with a cast led by Kelsey Grammer.