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Beauty and the Beast, the live-action adaptation of the Disney classic, features a star-studded cast of actors bringing fan-favorite characters to life — and Luke Evans shines in the role of narcissistic villain Gaston.

Although he’s been known for recently taking on a string of action roles, this isn’t the Welsh-born actor’s first time belting out a few tunes. Read on to learn more about the star, and find out how he ended up playing Disney’s muscular baddie.

He got his start in London musicals

The 37-year-old started out on the West End playing parts in several well-known musicals.

Happy Birthday, Euan Morton Morton was nominated for an Olivier Award and a Tony Award, and won a Theatre World Award win for Outstanding Broadway Debut asBoy Georgein the musical 'Taboo.' He also appeared on Broadway in 'Cyrano de Bergerac' and 'Sondheim on Sondheim' and is currently appearing in New York in Radio City Music Hall's 'New York Spectacular.' He has Off-Broadway and regional credits and received aHelen HayesAward for his portrayal of Leo Frank in 'Parade' at the Ford's Theatre.

Theatre fans know Tony nominee Euan Morton for his Broadway appearances in Taboo, Sondheim on Sondheim and Cyrano de Bergerac, or perhaps from his notable regional theatre work in such shows as Chess, Parade, or Heart of Robin Hood. Now he is opening up about a cause that is close to his heart and an event that will help to benefit it.

Broadway veteran and Taboo writer Boy George stopped by the GLAAD Media Awards earlier this month, where he confirmed in an interview with Mike Diamond that the show might be heading back to the stage. When asked about the odds of a revival, he commented 'Very good. We've actually written a new script and we are in talks with people to do a new production. So yeah, it's something I want to happen.'...

Exactly ten years after closing on Broadway, Boy George's Taboo returned to New York for a very special two-night-only engagement benefiting Broadway CaresEquity Fights AIDS. The concert starred Matthew Rowland Boy George and Samuel Buttery Leigh Bowery, both of whom reprised their performances from the 2012 revival of Taboo at the Brixton Clubhouse in London. Jeremy Kushnier Footloose, Jersey Boys, Jesus Christ Superstar took on the role of 'Philip Sallon.'In the video below, original 'Big Sue' Liz McCartney sings 'Talk Amongst Yourselves.'...

Exactly ten years after closing on Broadway, Boy George's Taboo returns to New York for a very special two-night-only engagement benefiting Broadway CaresEquity Fights AIDS. The concerts star Matthew Rowland Boy George and Samuel Buttery Leigh Bowery, both of whom will be reprising their performances from the 2012 revival of Taboo at the Brixton Clubhouse in London. Jeremy KushnierFootloose, Jersey Boys, Jesus Christ Superstar takes on the role of Philip Sallon.

New York — There was a time when most of the songs played on the radio came from Broadway. Now some popular hit makers like Cyndi Lauper and Sting are finding it still feels like home.

"Look, they don't break your balls that much here," Lauper said of the experience of composing "Kinky Boots," her debut musical. "Know what I'm saying? They don't friggin' aggravate you as much."

More and more singer-songwriters from the pop world seem to be hearing that siren song: The trickle of pop and rock stars turning to the stage is fast becoming a flood.

Besides Sting and Lauper, stars such as Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Edie Brickell, David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and The Flaming Lips are making musicals.

The reasons are as varied as the different sounds those artists create: Broadway represents a new challenge. Or it offers...

Early on in Kinky Boots, set in a backwater British shoe factory, we see pair after pair of brogues rolling out, slowly, on conveyor belts. It’s likely meant to convey the humdrum nature of Price & Son, old-line shoemakers; the products are brown, stolid, very traditional. And in fact there’s a whiff of the production line in the play itself: By 8:05 p.m., you can pretty much devise not only the storyline but how all the secondary characters and B plots are going to fit into it. These shoes come already broken in.So, okay, it’s not Company — nobody’s reinventing the form here. That’s alright. What we have, in Kinky Boots, is a well-fitted, well-staged toe-tapper in the contemporary big-Broadway idiom. It’s never boring; it’s never shocking; you are likely to leave entirely entertained and satisfied. Can’t argue with that. The Boy George musical Taboo,...

Kate Pazakis and co-host Shane Scheel hosted Rockwell Table and Stage's monthly Broadway Barre show on Monday night, October 22nd. Performers included Euan Morton Taboo, Our Lady J, Todd Buonopane The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Audra Mae, and Sheila Karls, along with guest performances by The Book of Mormon 1st National Tour cast. Click below to watch The Book of Mormon's Samantha Marie Ware perform Ragtime's Your Daddys Son...

Broadway Barre, a monthly event hosted by Kate Pazakis South Pacific, South Park, happened last night, October 22. This month's special guests were Euan Morton Taboo, Audra Mae Recording Artist, Jimmy Ray Bennet Nuclear Family, Todd Buonopane 30 Rock, Grease, and from the Book of Mormon National Tour Michael Buchanan The Addams Family, Cry Baby, Marisha Wallace Rent, Sistas, Jr Bruno West Side Story, Daniel Le Claire Hairspray, and Samantha Marie Ware The Lion King, Rent. In the video below, the company of Book of Mormon sings Rent's 'Seasons of Love' with solos by Kate Pazakis, Shane Scheel, and Marisha Wallace.

Sam Buttery has signed up to star in the Boy George musical Taboo. The Voice UK singer will play the role of Leigh Bowery, originally played by George, for the upcoming revival of the play in the West End. Buttery said of his casting: "Leigh Bowery is such an icon to me, so to get the chance to play him is just phenomenal. I just can't wait!" Taboo is set to run from September to late December at London's Brixton Clubhouse. The musical was written (more)...

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, producers Danielle Tarento and Bronia Buchanan will present a new production of Boy Georges Taboo at Brixton Club House following last months launch of the VIP Gold Room, marking the multi-purpose venues first foray into theatre.Today, it has been revealed that the show will star one of its original leading men, Paul Baker, as the club's promoter Philip Sallon. Baker won an Olivier award for the role in 2003. He is additionally known for his performances in the West End productions of Chicago Amos, Napoleon Napoleon, the original cast of The Lion King Zazu, Timon and Starlight Express Rusty.

Today, as a sideline to this weekends extensive, exhaustive and exclusive InDepth InterView Tony Awards Edition Jeff Calhoun, we are shining a special spotlight on the career of Calhoun on the Great White Way thus far with an electrifying collection of clips beginning with his collaborations with master directorchoreographer Tommy Tune on The Will Rogers Follies - todays 2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown dedicatee - and Busker Alley, through to his directorial debut with Grease and his subsequent work on Annie Get Your Gun, Bells Are Ringing, Taboo, Grey Gardens, Big River, Nine-to-five and this years twofer of new musicals that he directed and choreographed, the recently-closed Bonnie amp Clyde and the still-running mega-hit Newsies. As a performer, Calhoun appeared in Tune productions like My One And Only and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas - as well as the montage film Aria - but, unquestionably, he is most well-known and...

It is a rare enough occurrence for a genuine born and bred Broadway star to emerge post-millennium, but one as astonishingly versatile as Raul Esparza, having scored accolades since his blazing debut in a string of hit plays and musicals, ranging from Mamet and Sondheim and Pinter to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and his aforementioned Broadway bow in The Rocky Horror Show, is a downright cause for celebration. Esparza makes his grand return to the Broadway stage in a musical with his upcoming starring role in Alan Menken amp Glenn Slaters adaptation of the Steve Martin film Leap Of Faith, featuring a country and gospel influenced score and a spirited, energetic production by Christopher Ashley who, incidentally, helmed Esparzas first Broadway show, Rocky Horror. While Esparza has been seen in many - most, if not quite all - Broadway seasons in the decade since 2001, he has also scored in leading...

Rising star Luke Evans was once very open about being gay. But don't ask him about his private life today. The Welsh actor, who is currently in New Zealand filming The Hobbit (he'll next be seen in Immortals and The Three Musketeers, among other projects), had no problem discussing his sexuality with reporters back in 2002 at age 23 while appearing on the London stage in the Boy George musical Taboo... Now 32 and a rising action star, he's gone quiet on matters of the heart. The Web has been buzzing this week with the discovery that his Wikipedia page was recently altered. What once said he was "openly gay," became, "Evans lives a private life and rarely speaks about his...

On this, the day of Boy George's 50th birthday, we propose a biopic. After all, Hollywood is quite fond of musician biopics what with their formulaic three act story beats: rise from talent-individuality-chutzpah, fall from drugs and debauchery, miniature or major comebacks as the performer finds themselves again.

So why is it that someone as fab and movie-character ready as Boy George doesn't have his own biopic? He's already written all of the wittiest lines for some future screenwriter, being one of the quippiest of '80s icons. He's already conjured the movie's most memorable costumes. He's already even provided a rough draft blueprint with his own autobiographical musical, Taboo (2004).

Now, Taboo was historically not a success on Broadway but we chalk this up to its difficult developmental period, clashing egos and press animosity (sometimes the media just turns on something and there's only a war zone from there...

Pretty much every theater queen knows that 2004 was one of the most remarkable years in Broadway history as it saw the debuts of two extraordinary musicals — Wicked and Avenue Q. It also saw one of the biggest and most controversial flops in Boy George's Taboo. Then there was Tony Kushner's well received Caroline or Change which was ultimately a box office disappointment. Despite the different levels of success all four went on to become Tony nominees, as well as subjects of the documentary Show Business: The Road to Broadway.

Originally released in 2007, this film which chronicles the behind the scenes drama that took place during the run of each show, is the latest documentary to be featured as part of Logo's (AfterElton.com's parent company) documentary series and airs this Saturday night on LogoTV. If you're at all interested in Broadway, I highly recommend this one.

And here...

Boy George first garnered international fame in the early 80’s as the “androgenius” front man of New Romantic outfit Culture Club. With his soulful voice and dragamuffin appearance, he won over a generation of fans with singles “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?,” “Time (Clock Of The Heart),” and “I'll Tumble 4 Ya,” which famously made the group the first since the Beatles to achieve three top 10 hits from a debut album. “Karma Chameleon” off their next LP, spent three weeks at number one and became their signature track. The group would sell over 100 million singles and 50 million albums.

Although Boy George eventually went solo and achieved a Top 20 hit with 1992’s “The Crying Game,” a Grammy nomination for 1999’s “When Will You Learn,” and a Tony nod for his Taboo musical, he’d become more famous for being infamous. News of his previous tempestuous relationship with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss,...

ITV soap Coronation Street and EastEnders actor John Partridge have both been honoured at this year's Stonewall Awards. Corrie won the 'Broadcast of the Year' gong at last night's ceremony, which celebrated those who have made a positive impact on the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the past 12 months. The Weatherfield show has featured its first ever lesbian storyline this year, focusing on long-standing character Sophie Webster's (Brooke Vincent) blossoming romance with best friend Sian Powers (Sacha Parkinson). Corrie had faced competition from rival soaps EastEnders and Emmerdale in the category, as well as factual Channel 4 programmes The Sex Education Show and Dispatches: Africa's Last Taboo. Meanwhile, Partridge won the 'Entertainer of the Year' prize for his role (more)...

Luke Evans is your new leading man -- you just don't know it yet. The Welsh 30-year-old made his name on the British stage by starring in productions of Miss Saigon and Taboo, and since he transitioned into film last year, he's booked role after role after role. In Robin Hood and Clash of the Titans, Evans had smaller supporting parts, but he turned heads as the romantic lead opposite Gemma Arterton in the Cannes comedy Tamara Drewe, and after he finishes Tarsem Singh's Immortals, he'll be playing Aramis in Paul W.S. Anderson's The Three Musketeers (with a cast that includes Orlando Bloom and Christoph Waltz) and the title character in the biopic Vivaldi, opposite Jessica Biel. Not a bad haul for someone who hadn't even appeared in a film until this year!

Movieline caught up with the busy Evans to get the scoop on all of his...

While Green Day’s punk musical American Idiot, which debuted last week on Broadway to a rave review from the New York Times, doesn’t have any gay characters or gay themes, it does feature out singer Declan Bennett as part of the cast.

Bennett might not be a well-known name on American shores, but back in his native UK, the twenty-nine-year old singer/songwriter/performer has been a steady presence in England ever since he got first his break in 1999 singing on a British morning TV show. That appearance led to his joining Brit boy band Point Break. While not a huge success, Point Break did have four UK Top Twenty hits and even found success in Asia.

In 2002, Bennett joined Boy George’s West End show Taboo as Guru Dazzle, a relatively minor part. But Bennett did well enough that he later took over the lead role of Billy,...

John is currently starring as Christian Clarke in BBC One’s EastEnders – a role he has played for over two years and for which he won an Inside Soap Award for 2009’s Sexiest Male.

John trained as a dancer at the Royal Ballet School, Bush Davies and Doreen Bird’s. In 1988 he joined the touring production of Cats, where he became Dance Captain from 1989 to 1990 and played the roles of Alonzo and Rumpus Cat. He later joined the West End production of Cats at the New London Theatre, playing the roles of Rum Tum Tugger and Munkustrap and in 1998, he appeared as Rum Tum Tugger in the official film production of the show, produced by Lloyd Webber and filmed at the Adelphi Theatre.

He returned to the West End cast of the show prior to its closure in 2002 and has also appeared as Rum Tum Tugger in the German production at Düsseldorf.

Rich Affannato in association with Meri Krassner will present a special invitational reading of the new musical, Caligula, with book, music & lyrics by Eric Svejcar, for two performances next Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14 at 3 p.m. at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Under the direction of Chris Presley, the cast features Euan Morton (Taboo) in the title role, with Autumn Hurlbert (MTV's Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods), Matt Bogart (Jersey Boys, Aida), and Anastasia Barzee (White Christmas, Urinetown). These presentations of Caligula will be backed by a six-piece band led by Musical Director David Andrews Rogers.

Little Britain star Matt Lucas has ignored Boy George's attempts to apologise to him after he called the comedian a "prissy, niggly diva". Lucas, who starred in the Culture Club frontman's musical Taboo in 2002, has so far declined to respond to Boy George's attempts to repair their relationship. The Daily Star quotes George as saying: "I wrote Matt an email a while ago. I (more)...

British pop star Boy George donned overalls and gloves in New York yesterday as he began his community service for wasting police time. The former Culture Club frontman, real name George O'Dowd, was sentenced to five days work by Manhattan Criminal Court in June for falsely reporting a burglary at his Little Italy apartment in October 2005. After sentencing, the 45-year-old Taboo singer slammed his punishment, saying, "It would have been more useful to make 30 grand ($30,000) with a concert, rather than be prancing around in a park. I could have raised some money, could have done something that would have helped." Despite vowing to wear "something loud," O'Dowd arrived for the beginning of his shift with the Department of Sanitation today wearing dark trousers and a black jumper, before picking up a shovel, broom, plastic bags, orange vest and gloves. While spending the first hour relatively silent as he swept the streets, O'Dowd shouted to the waiting paparazzi, "You think you're better than me?. Go home. Let me do my community service. This is supposed to be making me humble. Let me do this. I just want to do my job." Due to the huge throng of photographers surrounding the star, the DS decided to move O'Dowd into a gated Sanitation parking lot, where he carried on sweeping. Deputy Sanitation Chief Albert Durrell said, "This is for everyone's safety."...