As previously announced, Dianne Pilkington will succeed Helen Dallimore in the role of the curly locked Glinda. That performance will also see Oliver Tompsett step into the role of Fiyero (he places Adam Garcia) and Andy Mace take over the role of Doctor Dillamond (he replaces Martin Ball). Both Tompsett and Mace were members of the original London ensemble of Wicked.
The threesome will join a company that includes Kerry Ellis as Elphaba, Susie Blake as Madame Morrible, Nigel Planer as The Wizard, James Gillan as Boq and Katie Rowley Jones as Nessarose. (Cassidy Janson will be the Elphaba standby, and Sarah Earnshaw the Glinda standby.)
The ensemble comprises Gary Amers, Nicola Brazil, Nadine Cox, Aileen Donohoe, Ashleigh Gray, Aimee Hall, Kady Jo Jackson, Caroline Keiff, Mark Henry-Evans, John Hicks, Dougal Irvine, Latoya Laijan, Mitchell Mahony, Christopher Mitchell, Adam Murray, Haydn Oakley, Sean Parkins, Michael Pickering, David Stoller, Lindsay Taylor, Hannah Toye, Kerry Washington, Lucy Waugh and Gary Wood.
In the United States, Wicked plays Broadway (at the Gershwin Theatre), Chicago (at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre) and Los Angeles (at the Pantages Theatre). There is also a national touring company. To date, the musical has grossed over $500,000,000 worldwide.
Wicked features a score by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. The creative team also includes scenic design by Eugene Lee, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Tony Meola, projections by Elaine J. McCarthy, wig and hair design by Tom Watson, music supervision and arrangements by Stephen Oremus, orchestrations by William David Brohn, dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott, musical staging by Wayne Cilento and musical supervision-direction by Gareth Valentine. 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.
For more on Wicked call (0)870 594 9494.
