New Wicked London Cast
by Best of Theatre Staff on Monday 24 January 2022, 1:17 pm in Cast Changes and Announcements
Wicked, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to release the first production images, by photographer Matt Crockett, of Lucie Jones (Elphaba), Ryan Reid (Fiyero), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible) and Gary Wilmot (The Wizard) who will lead the new London cast at the Apollo Victoria Theatre from Tuesday 1 February 2022.
They join Helen Woolf,who returns from maternity leave to continue her acclaimed performance as Glinda, Carina Gillespie (Nessarose), Nicholas McLean (Boq), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Amy Webb (Standby for Elphaba) and Charli Baptie* (Standby for Glinda), who all continue in their starring roles.
The complete new London cast from Tuesday 1 February 2022 will be: Lucie Jones (Elphaba), Helen Woolf (Glinda), Ryan Reid (Fiyero), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible), Gary Wilmot (The Wizard), Carina Gillespie (Nessarose), Nicholas McLean (Boq), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Amy Webb (Standby for Elphaba), Charli Baptie* (Standby for Glinda), Yuki Abe, Kofi Aidoo-Appiah, Meg Astin, Alishia-Marie Blake, Pàje Campbell, Grace Chapman**, Michael Colbourne, Fergus Dale, Nolan Edwards, Nicola Espallardo, Danny Fogarty, Laura Harrison, Amie Hibbert, Lucie Horsfall, Samuel How, Christian Knight, Nick Len, Jasmine Leung, Rhidian Marc, PaddyJoe Martin, Jessica-Alice McCluskey, Stacey McGuire, Harry Mills, Lewis Newton, Natalie Spriggs, Samantha Thomas***, Joe Thompson-Oubari and James Titchener.
*Maternity cover for Lisa-Anne Wood. **Maternity cover for Maggie Lynne. ***Maternity cover for Joanna Sawyer. Cast subject to change.
Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sophie Evans (Glinda), Alistair Brammer (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible) and Andy Hockley (The Wizard) will all play their final performances on Sunday 30 January 2022.
“One of the most successful musicals of all time” (BBC News) and already the 9th longest running musical in West End theatre history, Wicked is currently booking to Sunday 27 November 2022 and plays Tuesday-Saturday evening performances at 7.30pm with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm.
Now seen by more than 10 million people in London alone (and 60 million worldwide), “the global sensation” (Independent) is the winner of over 100 major international awards, including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy Award and ten theatregoer voted WhatsOnStage Awards (including ‘Best New Musical’ and three for ‘Best West End Show’).
Lucie Jones (Elphaba) is an award-winning actor and solo artist. Born in the Welsh village of Pentyrch, Lucie first came to national prominence as a finalist in ITV’s The X Factor in 2009, mentored by Dannii Minogue. Alongside her fellow contestants, she also featured in a 56-date sell-out national arena tour, The X-Factor Live, and recorded the number-one selling single You Are Not Alone. Lucie starred as ‘Jenna Hunterson’ in the UK Tour of the musical Waitress, a role she previously played in the West End where her celebrated performance won her three awards. Her acclaimed and prolific career has seen her perform all over the world in both concerts and musicals, including her 2010 West End debut as ‘Cosette’ in Les Misérables. In 2017, Lucie was invited to take part in the live televised final of Eurovision: You Decide. After subsequently winning the public vote, she went on to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, performing her song Never Give Up On You to a global audience of over 300 million people. Her acclaimed album, Lucie Jones – Live at the Adelphi, is available on CD and all streaming formats.
Ryan Reid (Fiyero) trained at ArtsEd, graduating in 2013. He was in the original London cast of Dreamgirls, directed by Casey Nicholaw, subsequently taking over the leading role of ‘Curtis Taylor, Jr.’. Ryan’s other credits include ‘Marvin’ in Sweet Charity at the Donmar Warehouse; Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights at the King’s Cross Theatre; the original UK Tour of Shrek The Musical and Blues In The Night at the Hackney Empire.
Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible) is a two-time Olivier Award nominee. Her many starring roles in the West End include ‘Celia’ in Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical The Girls; ‘Paula Paxton’ in Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham; ‘Barbara Castle’ in Made in Dagenham, alongside Gemma Arterton, and, most recently, ‘Fergie’ in The Windsors: Endgame. She has appeared extensively at theatres and concert halls across the UK, including as ‘Madame Thénardier’ in the UK & Ireland Tour of Les Misérables, ‘Mrs. Lovett’ in Sweeney Todd (Mercury Theatre, Colchester) and ‘Widow Corney’ in Oliver! (Grange Park Opera). In Paris, she played ‘Dot’ opposite Julian Ovenden in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George (Théâtre du Châtelet).
Gary Wilmot (The Wizard), the much-loved actor and entertainer, first came to national prominence on the popular ITV show New Faces in 1978. Over the subsequent 40+ years, his prolific career has encompassed hundreds of television appearances, with shows including Cue Gary! (ITV), Saturday Gang (LWT), Copy Cats (LWT) and Showstoppers (BBC1), and multiple stage roles, including his acclaimed West End debut in 1989 as ‘Bill Snibson’ in Me and My Girl, ‘Joe’ in Simon Callow’s production of Carmen Jones (The Old Vic) and, most recently, ‘Jethro’ in The Prince of Egypt and ‘Elisha Whitney’ in Anything Goes. His now legendary performances in pantomime at the London Palladium include Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Dick Whittington, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He has appeared on the Royal Variety Performance, been the subject of This Is Your Life (1986) and received an MBE in 2018 for services to Drama and Charity.
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum’s beloved characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reveals the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Wicked has music and lyrics by multi-Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted and its forthcoming sequel Disenchanted). It is based on the bestselling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and written by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Winnie Holzman, creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life. Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.
Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK) Michael McCabe.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire is published in the UK by Headline (the book is recommended for readers aged 16+). Wicked: The Grimmerie, a behind-the-scenes look at the musical by David Cote, is published in the UK by Hyperion.