Nikki Bentley and Helen Woolf to lead Wicked West End cast
(© Wicked, photo by Darren Bell)
New casting has been announced for the West End production of Wicked.
Nikki Bentley and Helen Woolf will take on the lead roles of Elphaba and Glinda at the Apollo Victoria Theatre from 22 July. Both appeared in the recent UK and Ireland tour of the hit show, with Woolf previously understudying Glinda and Nessarose in the West End.
Kim Ismay (Mamma Mia!) will play Madame Morrible in the West End after also playing the role on tour. Idriss Kargbo (Five Guys Named Moe) rejoins the show as Boq until 10 November, while Simeon Truby (Sweeney Todd) will play Doctor Dillamond. Andy Hockley will continue as the Wizard, while Carina Gillespie will return to play Nessarose after taking on the role during the 2013-15 tour.
Lisa-Anne Wood (The Phantom of the Opera) joins as the standby Glinda, with Laura Pick continuing as standby Elphaba. Natasha Ferguson (42nd Street) will be maternity cover for Nessarose.
The new cast joins the previously announced Alistair Brammer, who will play Fiyero in the hit musical.
The rest of the company will be composed of Chanelle Anthony, Meg Astin, Rebecca Botterill, Michael Colbourne, Lewis Easter, Nolan Edwards, Kerry Enright, Chris George, Rebecca Gilliland, Lucie Horsfall, Nicole Lupino, Maggie Lynne, Stuart Maciver, Carl Man, Rhidian Marc, Joanna Sawyer, Scott Sutcliffe, Genevieve Taylor, Grant Thresh, James Titchener, Libby Watts, Bryony Whitfield, Chad Wilder, Dickie Wood, Chiarina Woodall and Tom Woollaston.
Wicked continues to run in the West End and is currently booking until 23 May 2020. Based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, which re-imagines the stories and characters created by L Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the show charts the untold story of an unlikely friendship between Glinda The Good and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
It has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, and features the songs "Defying Gravity", "Popular" and "The Wizard and I".
The musical had its UK premiere in London in September 2006, winning four WhatsOnStage Awards that year before going on to win the Best West End Show award in 2010, 2011 and 2017 (when it drew with Les Misérables).
The current lead cast members – Alice Fearn, Sophie Evans, David Witts, Melanie La Barrie, Chris Jarman, Rosa O'Reilly and Jack Lansbury will all play their final performances on Saturday 20 July.
