By Andrew Gans
18 Mar 2004

Idina Menzel in the Broadway production of Wicked
photo by Joan Marcus

Wicked, the hit Stephen Schwartz musical at the Gershwin Theatre, will launch its North American tour in Toronto in spring 2005.

The Toronto Star reports that the musical, which turns every "Wizard of Oz" myth inside out, will be part of the 2004-2005 Mirvish subscription season. Wicked will play a Toronto theatre-to-be-announced before heading to major U.S. cities.

Wicked, which officially opened Oct. 30, 2003, stars Idina Menzel as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. The cast also includes Tony and Academy Award winner Joel Grey as The Wizard, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, Carole Shelley as Madame Morrible, Michelle Federer as Nessarose, Christopher Fitzgerald as Boq and William Youmans as Doctor Dillamand. The original cast recording is available on the Decca Broadway label.

With a score by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman and direction by Joe Mantello — a 2003 Tony Award winner for last season’s Take Me Out — Wicked features choreography by Wayne Cilento. The Gershwin Theatre is located at 222 West 51st Street.

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David Stone, one of the producers of the Schwartz musical, confirmed to Playbill On-Line Dec. 8, 2003, that there are now plans for a national tour. "We are definitely planning a tour. It will go out in spring 2005, around March," said Stone. "We don't know where we're starting yet. We're figuring that out right now." Casting has yet to begin, but Stone did confirm that Joe Mantello will direct the production, as he did on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre.

Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked
photo by Joan Marcus

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