Chicago Wicked to Welcome Broadway's Youmans in December

By Andrew Gans
08 Nov 2006

William Youmans
William Youmans

William Youmans, who created the role of Doctor Dillamond in the Broadway company of Wicked, will begin a limited engagement in the Chicago company of that hit musical in December.

Youmans will play the Shiz University Professor Dec. 12, 2006-Jan. 14, 2007 in the Chicago Wicked, which plays the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre. Youmans can currently be seen as Richard Bingham in the pre-Broadway engagement of The Pirate Queen.

On Broadway William Youmans has been seen in Wicked, La Boheme, Titanic, Big River and Little Foxes. His other New York stage credits include Weird Romance, Miracle Brothers, Orphan of Zhao and Henry V. Youman's screen credits include "Mrs. Sofitel," "Nadine," "Fresh Horses" and "A League of Their Own."

The open-ended Chicago production of Wicked began performances at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre June 24, 2005, and officially opened July 13. The original Chicago company included Ana Gasteyer and Kate Reinders as, respectively, the green-faced and "Popular" witches.

The Chicago Wicked company currently features Kristy Cates as Elphaba, Erin Mackey as Glinda, Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, Gene Weygandt as The Wizard, Heidi Kettenring as Nessarose, Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, Adam Fleming as Boq and Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond. Dee Roscioli is the standby for Elphaba.

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.

Chicago's Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre is located at 24 West Randolph Street. Tickets for Wicked are available at all Broadway in Chicago box offices (22 W. Monroe Street, 24 W. Randolph Street and 151 West Randolph Street) or by calling (312) 902-1400.

For more information visit www.wickedthemusical.com/chicago.