Adam Garcia and Martin Ball are to leave Wicked on 14 July, to be replaced by Oliver Tompsett and Andy Mace as Fiyero and Doctor Dillamond respectively. Both Tompsett and Mace have understudied the roles and are members of the original cast of the London production, which opened last September.
The pair begin performances on 16 July along with Dianne Pilkington, who was already announced to replace Helen Dallimore in the role of Glinda. Kerry Ellis, who has been playing Elphaba since January, has extended her contract in the show, as have Susie Blake (Madame Morrible), Nigel Planer (The Wizard), James Gillan (Boq) and Katie Rowley Jones (Nessarose).
Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, the musical Wicked imagines what happened to the two witches in L Frank Baum’s classic story The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz before, during and after Dorothy’s adventure in Oz. At college, green-skinned Elphaba is misunderstood and shunned, while blond and popular Glinda is the belle of the ball. The two strike up an unlikely friendship, but destiny soon takes over as they go to Oz and become known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda The Good.
Wicked is currently booking at the Apollo Victoria until 29 March 2008. CB