National Tour of Wicked Gets a New Wizard Beginning Sept. 14

By Andrew Gans
08 Sep 2010

Gene Weygandt
Gene Weygandt
Photo by Joan Marcus

Gene Weygandt, who created the role of The Wizard in the Chicago production of Wicked, will join the cast of the first North American tour of that hit musical Sept. 14 in Boston, MA.

Weygandt (as The Wizard) will join a cast that includes Jackie Burns as Elphaba, Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda and Randy Danson as Madame Morrible.

The company also features Richard H. Blake (Fiyero), Justin Brill (Boq), Michelle London (Nessarose), Steven Skybell (Dr. Dillamond) and Mariand Torres (standby for Elphaba) with Penelope Armstead-Williams, Terra Lynn Arrington, Aaron De Jesus, Emily Ferranti, Luis Augusto Figueroa, Dominic Giudici, Napoleon W. Gladney, Spencer Jones, Renee Lawless-Orsini, Philip Dean Lightstone, Kourtni Lind, Marissa Lupp, Sterling Masters, Kevin McMahon, Christopher Russo, Adam Sanford, Carla Stickler, Brandon Tyler, Shanna VanDerwerker, Bud Weber, Betsy Werbel, Sunny L. Yokoyama, Lauren Ashley Zakrin and Jared Zirilli.

On Broadway Weygandt created the role of Paul in Big: The Musical and is a three-time recipient of Chicago's Jefferson Award. His many film and TV credits include "The Birdcage," "The Babe," "The Beast," "Cybill," "Home Improvement," "Murphy Brown," "Drew Carey," "Ellen," "Coach" and "USA High."

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 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 features a score by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman, direction by Joe Mantello and musical staging by Wayne Cilento. 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 and dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

The Boston engagement of Wicked is currently running through Oct. 17 at the Boston Opera House. Tickets are available online at www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/Boston.