Alexia Khadime, Desmond Barrit and Jeremy Legat join the cast in the roles of, respectively, Elphaba, The Wizard and Boq. The June 9 performance also sees the ascension of ensemble member Caroline Keiff into the role of Nessarose. Ashleigh Gray becomes the standby for the green-faced Elphaba that day as well.
Current cast members also include Dianne Pilkington (Glinda), Harriet Thorpe (Madame Morrible), Oliver Tompsett (Fiyero), Andy Mace (Doctor Dillamond) and Sarah Earnshaw (standby for Glinda).
The ensemble comprises Cindy Belliot, Matthew Boulton, Sabrina Carter, Nadine Cox, Matthew Croke, Aileen Donohoe, A C Garcia, Kady-Jo Jackson, Keeley Jane Jackson, Alex Jessop, Richard Kent, Aimee Lewis, Pippa Lloyd, Mitchell Mahony, Adam Murray, Rachel Muldoon, Sean Parkins, Jake Samuels, David Stoller, Liam Connor Tamne, Chloe Taylor, Lindsay Taylor, Emily Tierney, Hannah Toy, George Ure and Gary Wood.
Kerry Ellis, who begins as Broadway's Elphaba June 17, will return to the London production Dec. 1.
Alexia Khadime, who recently played Nala in Disney's The Lion King, has also been seen in productions of Whistle Down the Wind, Leader of the Pack and Cinderella: The Musical. Her screen credits include "Grange Hill," "Cleopatra Comin' Atcha" and "Dream Team." Desmond Barrit recently played Hector in the National Theatre's West End production of The History Boys (a role also played on Broadway when he stood in for Richard Griffiths for a week in July 2006). Barrit has also been seen on Broadway in Adrian Noble's RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other roles with the RSC include Falstaff in Henry IV Parts I and II (for which he was Olivier-nominated), Trinculo in The Tempest, Antiopholus in The Comedy of Errors (Olivier win), and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. For the National, he played Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Dick Cheney in David Hare's Stuff Happens and Toad in Alan Bennett's The Wind in the Willows. For the Donmar Warehouse, he has starred in Dario Fo's Accidental Death of An Anarchist and the double-bill of The Real Inspector Hound and Black Comedy (that played at the West End's Comedy Theatre).
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Jeremy Legat was seen in Oliver! at the London Palladium and the tour of Peter Pan. His theatre credits also include productions of Growing Pains, The Proposal, Billy Liar, My Fair Lady, The Crucible, La Cage aux Folles, Our Day Out, Cabaret and Cold Comfort Farm.
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.
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.
