Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo dazzles on opening night of Aladdin

Cynthia Erivo treads the purple carpet

Cynthia Erivo, the British actress who is the toast of Broadway after winning a Tony Award, was among the stars attending the glitzy opening night of Disney's Aladdin.

The 29-year-old from south London was named best actress in a musical at the Sunday ceremony in New York City which honours theatrical productions.

Erivo has been lauded for her stage portrayal of Celie Johnson, the role that won Whoopi Goldberg acclaim in Steven Spielberg's 1985 movie The Color Purple.

Happy Valley actress Katherine Kelly and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson also took their place on the purple carpet at London's Prince Edward Theatre on Wednesday.

They were joined by comedian Rufus Hound, TV and radio personality Vanessa Feltz and Sherlock actor Andrew Scott.

Panto favourite Christopher Biggins was seen alongside long-term partner Neil Sinclair, while McFly's Tom Fletcher attended with his wife Giovanna Fletcher.

Aladdin, the lavish musical based on the classic Academy Award-winning animated film, stars Britain's Got Talent semi-finalist Dean John-Wilson in the title role.

Jade Ewen of Sugababes fame is playing Princess Jasmine while Broadway cast member Trevor Dion Nicholas makes his London stage debut as Genie.

He is joined by Don Gallagher as Jafar, Peter Howe as Iago, Irvine Iqbal as the Sultan, Nathan Amzi as Babkak, Stephen Rahman-Hughes as Kassim and Rachid Sabitri as Omar.

Aladdin features the timeless songs from the 1992 film which starred the late Robin Williams as the voice of the Genie.

Now in its third record-breaking year on Broadway, where it has been seen by more than 1.5 million people, Aladdin's global presence has grown to four productions on three continents.

Previous Disney stage productions in London have included award-winning productions of Beauty And The Beast, Mary Poppins and The Lion King, now in its 17th year in the West End.