Full cast announced for Wicked tour
The iconic musical hits the road again
Last updated 7th Sep 2023
Wicked is heading on tour this year and producers have announced that former West End Elphaba will be going green again as the legendary musical hits the road.
The tour will begin at the Edinburgh playhouse on 7th December 2023 before visiting Bristol, Birmingham, Bradford, Southampton, Liverpool, Dublin, Sunderland, Cardiff and Manchester.
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked tells us the story of what happened between the Witches of Oz before Dorothy came along in L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz'.
Producers have announced that Sarah O’Connor (Glinda), Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Jed Berry (Boq), Megan Gardiner (Nessarose), and Casey Al-Shaqsy (Standby for Elphaba) will join the previously announced Laura Pick (Elphaba), Carl Man (Fiyero), and Simeon Truby (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond).
The full cast for all tour dates is confirmed as Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sarah O’Connor (Glinda), Carl Man (Fiyero), Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Simeon Truby (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond), Jed Berry (Boq), Megan Gardiner (Nessarose), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Standby for Elphaba), Thomas Charles, Julie Cloke, Charlotte Coggin, Freddie Conway, Áine Curran, Jade Davies, Kamau Davis, Russell Dickson, Maddison Firth, Lydia Gerrard, James Gower-Smith, Shoko Ito, Holly Lawrence, Nick Len, Stephanie Lindo, Will Lucas, Will Luckett, Rozz Mbwembwe, Georgia McElwee, Conor O’Hara, Shereen Osman, Stuart Rouse, Christina Shand, Adam Stickler, and Frazer Woolcott.
Carl Man most recently appeared in Max Martin and David West Read’s & Juliet, playing the role of ‘Romeo’ more than 100 times at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. He spent three years in Wicked in the West End, playing ‘Fiyero’ on many occasions. His many other credits include ‘Rory’ in the new musical Proud (Turbine Theatre); ‘Nintendo’ in Starlight Express (The Other Palace Theatre); Tiger Bay The Musical (Wales Millennium Centre); We Will Rock You for Royal Caribbean Cruises; and The Who’s Tommy (The Arts Centre of Coastal Carolina). He made his musical theatre professional debut playing ‘Aladdin’ in Disney’s Aladdin at Disneyland’s Hyperion Theatre in California.
Laura made her London stage debut in July 2013 in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Her West End journey in Wicked began in 2017, when she was cast as the Standby for ‘Elphaba’. Laura subsequently assumed the starring role full-time, playing ‘Elphaba’ in the West End at more than 350 performances to huge acclaim.
Laura Pick said: 'I’m thrilled to be leading the UK & Ireland tour cast of Wicked and to be given the opportunity to continue my journey in the unique and extraordinary role of Elphaba, which first began for me in the West End in 2017. Wicked has been a life and career-changing show for me and I am proud to be part of the cast taking this incredible musical back to theatres across the UK and Ireland.'
The musical continues to run at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End and has already toured the UK and Ireland twice before.
Michael McCabe, Executive Producer (UK & Ireland) of Wicked, said:
“We’re delighted to be embarking on this third tour of the UK & Ireland and taking Wicked back to 10 incredible theatres in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland where sold-out audiences previously greeted us so ecstatically. We’re excited to have this opportunity to share once again the spectacle, magic and emotion that has created unforgettable memories for audiences everywhere.”
Where can I see Wicked on tour?
2023
7th December 2023 - 14th January 2024 - Edinburgh Playhouse
2024
23rd January - 25th February - Bristol Hippodrome
5th March - 7th April - Birmingham Hippodrome
16th April - 19th May - Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
23rd May - 16th June - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
20th June - 14th July - Liverpool Empire
23rd July - 15th September - Bord Gáis Theatre, Dublin
24th September - 20th October - Sunderland Empire
24th October - 23rd November - Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
3rd December 2024 - 12th January 2025 - Manchester Opera House
Further venue information can be found at the official Wicked website.
Our favourite musicals based on books
Cabaret
Kander and Ebb's hugely successful Cabaret which is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic was based on John Van Druten's play I am a Camera which in turn was based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical novel, Goodbye to Berlin.
Cats
A slightly different type of adaptation came with Cats. A collection of T. S. Elliot's poems about cats were published in 1939 in a book called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
The poems were used as lyrics in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical Cats which was at one point the longest running musical both in the West End and on Broadway.
The Color Purple
Alice Walker's 1982 novel The Color Purple has been voted one of the UK's most loved books and Alice became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The novel was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985 and a musical that explores more of the themes included in the source material opened on Broadway in 2005. The musical version of The Color Purple is now being adapted into a film.
Doctor Doolittle
During the First World War, Hugh Lofting began sending illustrations to his children about a physician who could talk to the animals. He went on to publish the stories with the first one released in 1920.
The stories had their first big screen adaptation in 1967 with Rex Harrison as the titular character. The film and stories were adapted for the stage with the first run taking place at the Hammersmith Apollo with Phillip Schofield in the leading role.
Gypsy
Gypsy Rose Lee, who was famous for her striptease act, released her autobiography titled Gypsy: A Memoir in 1957. The book served as the inspiration behind Jules Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' iconic 1959 musical, Gypsy.
Legally Blonde
Now many of us know that Legally Blonde was based on the hit 2001 film starring Reece Witherspoon, but did you know that the film was based on a book of the same name?
Author Amanda Brown wrote a novel based on her own experience at Stanford Law School. Before the book was even published, the manuscript caught the attention of Hollywood and both the book and film were released in 2001 with the musical adaptation first opening in 2007.
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables is considered one of the best novels of the 19th century and it's fair to argue that Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's musical adaptation is one of the greatest musicals of all time. Having opened in the West End in 1985, it now holds the record as the world's longest running musical.
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins made her debut in P. L. Travers' children's stories with the first book released in 1934. It took Walt Disney 20 years to convince Travers to allow the film to be made - but she wasn't a fan of the final product.
When she was approached by Cameron Mackintosh for the stage adaptation, one of her conditions was that nobody from the original film could be involved with the production. This meant that the Sherman Brothers were barred from writing the additional music.
Matilda
Roald Dahl's beloved story of an intelligent young girl that had telekinetic powers was brought to the stage in 2010 when it opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Matilda the Musical has music and lyrics by Tim Minchin transferred to the West End in 2011 and won an impressive seven Olivier Awards.
Oliver!
It's fair to say that Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! is one of the most famous British musicals around. It's fitting considering the musical's source material, Oliver Twist was written by one of the most famous British authors, Charles Dickens.
The Phantom of the Opera
There have been many adaptions of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera - including multiple musicals. But it's Andrew Lloyd Webber's version that became an icon of the genre of musical theatre.
The musical first opened in 1986 and is now the second longest running West End musical and the longest running Broadway show.
South Pacific
A collection of short stories about the Pacific Campaign in World War II by James A. Michener was published in 1947. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific which opened on Broadway in 1949.
Wicked
Considering Wicked's huge success as a musical, many don't know that the musical is in fact based on a novel. Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was first published in 1995.
It's worth mentioning that the content of the novel has much more adult themes compared to the musical adaptation.
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