WICKED tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is proud to announce its full new cast who will begin performances 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.
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
