When performances begin at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, Murney will become the new Elphaba, replacing Stephanie J. Block, who created the role for the tour. March 8 will also see the arrival of Alma Cuervo as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as the Wizard and Jennifer Waldman as Nessarose.
On March 28, when Wicked begins its run at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, K. Todd Freeman will assume the role of Dr. Dillamond.
The company also features Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Sebastian Arcelus as Fiyero and Logan Lipton as Boq.
Julia Murney made her Broadway debut in Lennon. She received a Drama Desk nomination for her work in Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, and her other theatrical credits include Crimes of the Heart, Time and Again, A Class Act, Cloud 9, Snapshots and Mata Hari. Murney also portrayed Florence in the all-star Chess benefit concert for The Actors' Fund of America and was part of the all-star Children of Eden concert. Murney will release her debut solo recording, "I'm Not Waiting," this spring on the Sh-K-Boom Records label.
Alma Cuervo was most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of Cabaret. Her many other Broadway credits include Titanic, Beauty and the Beast, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Secret Rapture, Ghetto, The Heidi Chronicles, A Month of Sundays, Quilters, Is There Life After High School?, Censored Scenes from King Kong, Bedroom Farce and Once in a Lifetime. P.J. Benjamin has been seen on Broadway in Chicago, Torch Song Trilogy, Pippin, Charlie and Algernon, Sarava, Wind in the Willows, Ain't Broadway Grand and The Pajama Game. His screen credits include "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Ice Age."
Jennifer Waldman's Main Stem credits include Titanic and Wicked.
K. Todd Freeman's Broadway credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Song of Jacob Zulu, earning a Tony nomination for his work in the latter. At Steppenwolf he has been seen in Topdog and We All Went Down to Amsterdam.
Based on Gregory Maguire's novel, which turned every Oz myth inside out, Wicked explores the early life of the witches of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba. The two main characters meet at Shiz, a school where both hope to take up sorcery. Glinda is madly popular and Elphaba is, well, green. By a misunderstanding, they wind up roommates and, after an initial period of mutual loathing, begin to learn something about each other. Their life paths continue to intersect through a shared love, entry into the Emerald City and interaction with the Wizard himself. Eventually, their choices and convictions take them on widely different paths.
Wicked, with a book by Winnie Holzman, began previews on Broadway Oct. 8, 2003, with an official opening Oct. 30, 2003. The Broadway company — directed by Joe Mantello, who repeated his duties for the tour — continues to play the Gershwin Theatre.
For more information about Wicked visit www.wickedthemusical.com.
