Bradley Jaden joins WANTED as Jesse for Broadway debut

Bradley Jaden will play Jesse in WANTED at Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre, making his Broadway debut in an original musical centred on the Clarke sisters. Previews begin on 15 October 2026, with opening night scheduled for 8 November. The engagement gives an established West End performer his first role in a Broadway company and extends a career already spanning major London musicals and international concert work.

Variety first reported the casting on 19 August 2026, and the production’s official website now lists Jaden as Jesse and identifies WANTED as his Broadway debut. The announcement came ten days after he completed his run as Javert in LES MISÉRABLES: THE ARENA CONCERT SPECTACULAR at Radio City Music Hall. New York Theatre Guide records the 9 August engagement as the final stop of the production’s world tour, making WANTED his next announced stage production after that arena engagement. Its first preview is scheduled little more than two months after the tour ended.

The distinction is specific. WANTED will not be Jaden’s first performance in New York: he has appeared in the city at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall, as well as during a New York engagement of his solo concert tour. Those appearances were in concert settings rather than Broadway productions. WANTED is his first Broadway production and his first Broadway book musical, moving him from concert work in the city into a Broadway company. A New York appearance, even at a prominent concert venue, does not itself constitute a Broadway credit, so the production’s debut description is consistent with his earlier work in the city.

Jaden brings an extensive West End record to the role. His London credits include LES MISÉRABLES, WICKED and Stephen Sondheim’s OLD FRIENDS, along with SHREK THE MUSICAL and SIDE SHOW at the London Palladium. That range gives context to the milestone without overstating it: WANTED adds a first Broadway credit to a performer with substantial experience in West End musical theatre.

WANTED is set in Texas in 1893 and follows Black twin sisters Mary and Martha Clarke as they pass for white and become outlaws while fighting to protect their family and its legacy. The production describes the musical as inspired by a Clarke family story carried through generations. Its premise therefore combines a specific historical setting with a family story adapted for musical theatre, without presenting every event in the stage narrative as documented history.

The family connection reaches the writing team. Angelica Chéri, a descendant of the Clarke sisters, wrote the book and lyrics, while Ross Baum composed the music.

New York Theatre Guide traces the musical’s development to Chéri and Baum’s work in the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where it was initially known as GUN & POWDER. The work received a 2018 Richard Rodgers Award, then played Paper Mill Playhouse under that title from 4 April to 5 May 2024. The Broadway production now uses WANTED. Its scheduled opening follows eight years after the award and more than two years after the Paper Mill engagement. No explanation for the title change, or detailed account of revisions since Paper Mill, has been announced in the material reviewed.

Stevie Walker-Webb will direct the Broadway staging, with choreography by Chelsey Arce. IBDB identifies P3 Productions as the Broadway producer.

The currently announced principal cast also includes Solea Pfeiffer as Mary Clarke and Liisi LaFontaine as Martha Clarke. Ledisi will play Tallulah Clarke, with Luke James as Elijah, Aurelia Williams as Sissy and Awa Sal Secka as Flo.

Those performers represent the principal cast announced to date, not a complete opening-night company. IBDB notes that opening-night credits remain subject to finalisation, and the full ensemble and complete design, music and technical teams were not finalised in the sources reviewed. The production has also not published a detailed description of Jesse or clarified how the role relates to the Clarke sisters. For now, the official casting establishes Jaden’s role and Broadway-debut milestone without supporting further claims about the character.

AussieTheatre previously covered Jaden sharing the role of Javert in the arena production’s Radio City Music Hall engagement. A separate recent AussieTheatre industry analysis discussed WANTED’s long Broadway marketing runway and preview discounts. Those stories provide topical context, but neither reported his casting as Jesse.

Tickets are currently on sale at the James Earl Jones Theatre through 31 March 2027. That is the present ticketing horizon, not a confirmed closing date, and no fixed closing date or limited-run designation has been announced. No Australian production, tour, transfer or release plan has been confirmed, leaving Broadway as the only production currently announced.