Alexia Khadime Returns As Elphaba + Lucy St. Louis Is Glinda From March 2023 As WICKED Announces The Cast For 2023
Alexia Khadime returns to star as ‘Elphaba’
Lucy St. Louis to star as ‘Glinda’ from Tuesday 7 March 2023
WICKED, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is proud to announce its full new London cast who will begin performances at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre on Tuesday 7 March 2023. Leading the company will be Alexia Khadime as ‘Elphaba’, returning to the role she previously played to universal acclaim, and The Phantom of the Opera star Lucy St. Louis as ‘Glinda’. Caitlin Anderson will make her West End debut as ‘Nessarose’, and current ensemble cast member Joe Thompson-Oubari will take over the role of ‘Boq’.
The full new cast is confirmed as Alexia Khadime (Elphaba), Lucy St. Louis (Glinda), Ryan Reid (Fiyero), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible), Mark Curry (The Wizard), Caitlin Anderson (Nessarose), Joe Thompson-Oubari (Boq), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Amy Webb (Standby for Elphaba), Lisa-Anne Wood (Standby for Glinda), Yuki Abe, Kofi Aidoo-Appiah, Conor Ashman, Jessica Aubrey, Joshua Clemetson, Fergus Dale, Effie Rae Dyson, Nicola Espallardo, Danny Fogarty, Ross Harmon, Kate Leiper, Nick Len, Jemima Loddy, Joshua Lovell, PaddyJoe Martin, Millie Mayhew, Harry Mills, Daniel Parrott, Aiesha Naomi Pease, Jeanie Ryan, Natalie Spriggs, James Titchener, Micaela Todd, Christine Tucker, Jaydon Vijn and Taela Yeomans-Brown.
Current cast members Lucie Jones (Elphaba), Helen Woolf (Glinda), Carina Gillespie (Nessarose), Nicholas McLean (Boq), Meg Astin, Alishia-Marie Blake, Pàje Campbell, Michael Colbourne, Nolan Edwards, Laura Harrison, Amie Hibbert, Lucie Horsfall, Samuel How, Christian Knight, Jasmine Leung, Maggie Lynne, Rhidian Marc, Jessica-Alice McCluskey, Stacey McGuire, Lewis Newton, and Samantha Thomas will all play their final performances on Sunday 5 March 2023.
“One of the most successful musicals of all time” (BBC News), Wicked is now in its 17th year at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre where it has already seen by more than 11 million people. The “hugely popular show” (The Times) has won over 100 international awards including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and a Grammy. Tickets are currently on public sale until Sunday 26 November 2023, with nine extra shows added.
Alexia Khadime (Elphaba) first played ‘Elphaba’ to critical acclaim in 2008 and subsequently returned to the role for a second engagement in 2009/10. Alexia’s many other leading West End roles have included ‘Nala’ in Disney’s The Lion King; ‘Éponine’ in Les Misérables; ‘Nabulungi’ in The Book of Mormon (WhatsOnStage Award); and, most recently, ‘Miriam’ in The Prince of Egypt. At the National Theatre, she played ‘Harmonia’ in Welcome To Thebes, directed by Richard Eyre. Her many television appearances have included Comin' Atcha! (CITV); Nick Payne’s Wanderlust (BBC); Splatalot (CBBC) with Dick & Dom; ‘Ellie’ in The Queen’s Nose (CBBC) and Grange Hill. She appeared in the films Rocketman; Les Misérables and London Road.
Lucy St. Louis (Glinda) is currently starring as ‘Christine Daaé’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London. She previously starred as ‘Diana Ross’ in Motown The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre and as ‘Antonia’ in Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum. Lucy’s many other London theatre credits include her West End debut in Ragtime (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Book of Mormon (Prince of Wales Theatre); and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre)
Caitlin Anderson (Nessarose) will make her West End debut in Wicked. She trained at Scotland’s MGA Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2018.
Joe Thompson-Oubari (Boq) is currently appearing in the ensemble cast of Wicked and has played the role of ‘Boq’ on many occasions. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in the summer of 2019, gaining an MA (with Distinction) in Musical Theatre.
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 and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted and its Disney+ sequel Disenchanted). It is based on the multi-million copy best-selling 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.
The Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LG
Find WICKED: THE MUSICAL at the official Wicked The Musical website and on Facebook: /WickedUK, Twitter: @WickedUK and Instagram: @WickedUK.
The Grammy Award-winning, Platinum-certified Original Broadway Cast Recording on Decca Broadway
The Rubens at the Palace and The Clermont Victoria are the official hotel partners of Wicked London
Worldwide
A “global sensation” (Independent), Wicked has now been seen by more than 60 million people around the world. Joe Mantello’s production has already been performed in over 130 cities in 16 countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, The Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, China and Switzerland) and has been translated into six languages.
Broadway
The Tony Award-winning original Broadway production premiered on 30 October 2003 (with previews from 8 October 2003) and has now played more than 7000 performances at the Gershwin Theatre. Now beginning its 20th Anniversary Year, Wicked is currently the 5th longest running production in Broadway history. Seen by more than 12 million people on Broadway alone, the multi record-breaking production has been acclaimed as “a complete triumph that makes you laugh, cry and think” (USA Today), “a magical Broadway musical with brains, heart and courage” (Time Magazine), and “the defining musical of the decade” (The New York Times).
London
Wicked premiered in the West End on 27 September 2006 (with previews from 7 September 2006) and is already the 9th longest running West End musical of all time. Now in its 17th year, the multi award-winning production has played more than 6000 performances at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre where it has been seen by more than 11 million people. The London production has been hailed as “a devilishly clever spin on The Wizard of Oz” (The Daily Telegraph); “one of the West End’s true modern classics” (Metro), and “the biggest thing in musicals since The Phantom of the Opera opened” (The Times).
Creative Team
Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman and is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. It is directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Scenic design is by Eugene Lee, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Kenneth Posner, sound by Tony Meola, projection designs by Elaine J. McCarthy and Hair and Wig designs by Tom Watson. Music arrangements are by Alex Lacamoire and Stephen Oremus, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott, orchestrations by William David Brohn, and musical supervision by Stephen Oremus.
The Story
When Dorothy famously triumphed over the Wicked Witch, we only ever heard one side of the story. Gregory Maguire’s “outstanding novel” (Independent), ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’, ingeniously re-imagines the Land of Oz, creating a parallel universe to the familiar story written by L. Frank Baum and first published as ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ in 1900. “One of the most influential children’s stories of all time” (The Times), it was to be the first in an eventual series of fourteen Oz stories written by Baum (with many more by other writers) and subsequently also the inspiration multiple adaptations, most famously the 1939 Hollywood musical version, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland.
Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two young women who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University: the blonde and very popular Glinda and a misunderstood green girl named Elphaba. Following an encounter with The Wizard, their friendship reaches a crossroads, and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. Enter a world rich with imagination and allegory and discover the unforgettable origin story of the Witches of Oz…
Authors
Stephen Schwartz (Music & Lyrics) is the recipient of three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and the honourary Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his commitment to serving artists and new talent. He is also a six-time Tony Award nominee and the recipient of sixteen Lifetime Achievement honours. In 2008, he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Stephen is best known for his many successful stage musicals, including Wicked; Pippin and Godspell (which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary), as well as for his song-writing collaborations with composer Alan Menken on films including Disney’s Pocahontas; The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Enchanted and its Disney+ sequel Disenchanted. For DreamWorks Animation, he wrote both music and lyrics for The Prince of Egypt, with ‘When You Believe’ winning the 1999 Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song’. The 2020 London stage production of The Prince of Egypt was also filmed live by Universal Pictures for future release. Stephen was 23 when Godspell premiered in New York and 28 when, in 1976, he achieved the rare distinction of having three shows running simultaneously on Broadway (Godspell; Pippin and The Magic Show). www.stephenschwartz.com
Winnie Holzman (Book) is best known as the Emmy-nominated creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life (1994), which was named by TIME Magazine as one of the ‘100 Best TV Shows of All-Time’ and won the GLAAD Media Award for ‘Outstanding Drama Series’. The series launched the careers of Claire Danes (who won a Golden Globe Award for her acclaimed performance as ‘Angela Chase’), Wilson Cruz and Jared Leto. Winnie has written extensively for television, including multiple episodes of the internationally popular television series thirtysomething. For Wicked, Winnie received a 2004 Tony Award nomination and won the Drama Desk Award for ‘Outstanding Book of a Musical’. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the NYU Musical Theatre Program and a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Gregory Maguire (Author of the original novel) is best known for his ‘Wicked Years’ series of novels, which includes the multi-million international best seller Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) on which the musical Wicked is based and which he wrote while living in London. Inspired by the stories and characters created in 1900 by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the name of Wicked’s central character – Elphaba – is derived from the legendary authors initials (L. F. B.). The acclaimed American fantasy novelist has also written extensively for children, including his debut novel, The Lightning Time (1978). His more recent novels for adults include After Alice (2015), which was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker (2017); and A Wild Winter Swan (2020), a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans. His latest novels, The Brides of Maracoor (2021) and The Oracle of Maracoor (2022), are part of a three-book series (collectively entitled ‘Another Day’) spun off from the iconic ‘Wicked Years’ series and featuring Elphaba’s granddaughter, the green-skinned Rain.
Listings Information
Now Booking to Sunday 26 November 2023
Travel Trade, Groups (10+) and Schools (10+) now booking to Sunday 2 June 2024
The Apollo Victoria Theatre, 17 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LG
The theatre is one minute from London Victoria Mainline and Underground Stations.
Performance Times:
Evenings Tuesday-Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday 2.30pm
Extra Christmas shows added: Tuesday 20 December, Friday 23 December, Tuesday 27 December and Friday 30 December 2022, all @ 2.30pm. Further extra shows have been added on Thursday 16 February, Thursday 6 April, Thursday 3 August, Thursday 17 August and Thursday 26 October 2023, all @2:30pm.
The performance lasts approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including one 20-minute interval.
The schedule is subject to change.
Access performances:
Captioned:
Saturday 18 February 2023 @ 2.30pm
Friday 15 September 2023 @ 7:30pm
Audio Described:
Saturday 12 November 2022 @ 2.30pm
Tuesday 14 March 2023 @ 7.30pm
Saturday 14 October 2023 @ 2.30pm
Sign Language Interpreted:
Friday 21 April 2023 @ 7.30pm
Sunday 12 November 2023 @ 2:30pm
Telephone bookings: ATG Tickets 0844 871 3001
(Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge)
The Box Office opens for in-person bookings on performance days at 12 noon.
Ticket prices: from £19.50.
A per ticket booking fee of up to £2.75 may apply to bookings made online and by telephone. A one-off ATG Tickets £3.00 transaction fee may also be added to each booking made online and by telephone. All ticket prices include a £1.75 Theatre Restoration Levy.
Group Sales(10+ tickets):
No booking or transaction fees for group bookings of 10 or more. Sales subject to availability + terms and conditions.
Education: Class and year groups and youth/performing arts groups save more than 60% on tickets with free teacher ratios. Free classroom resources and lesson plans also available.
Wicked Front Row: Every Wednesday at 10am, 24 Front Row seats will be released in advance for all performances in the following week (Tuesday-Sunday), priced at £29.50 with no additional fees. To book and for more information visit WickedTheMusical online.
TodayTix Daily Dozen: The Daily Dozen offers a limited number of digital day seats released on every performance day at 10am, exclusively via the TodayTix App. Tickets are £29.50 with no additional fees.
The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist, which is always subject to illness, injury and statutory holiday entitlement. Please note that loud noises, flashing lights, smoke effects and strobe lighting feature in the production.
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