Aston Merrygold joins The Wizard of Oz tour dates

The UK and Ireland tour of The Wizard of Oz has announced Aston Merrygold will be joining a selection of dates across 2024.

Already set to appear are Craig Revel Horwood and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne as The Wicked Witch of the West, and Gary Wilmot as The Wizard for select dates. Jason Manford will reprise his role as the Cowardly Lion in Manchester only.

Other principal cast members appearing during the tour include Aviva Tulley (The Book of Mormon) as Dorothy, Benjamin Yates (Jersey Boys) as The Scarecrow, Nic Greenshields (Les Misérables) as The Cowardly Lion and Emily Bull (9 to 5) as Glinda the Good Witch. Abigail Matthews (War Horse) will portray Toto. Allan Stewart (Stones in His Pockets) and Alex Bourne (Annie) will play The Wizard for select dates.

The JLS star took on the role of the Tin Man for the production’s festive season in Liverpool last Christmas, and will now return for spells at Bristol Hippodrome (2 to 7 April), Palace Theatre Manchester (24 April to 5 May), Birmingham Hippodrome (11 to 16 June) and Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff (23 to 28 July).

The company is completed by David Burrows, Adam Craig, Cole Dunn, Tyler Ephraim, Olivia Kate Holding, Thomas Kalek, Sadie Levett, Kelsie-Rae Marshall, Martin McCarthy, Rose Ouellette, Fanja Parent, Alexandra Regan, Nathan Routledge and Sydney Spencer.

It received a glowing review at The London Palladium from WhatsOnStage, being described as “sheer theatrical wizardry and far too good to miss.” The show will continue to visit Sheffield, Canterbury, Edinburgh, Southend, Norwich, Llandudno, Bradford, Plymouth, Bristol, Nottingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Woking, Belfast, Aberdeen, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Wolverhampton and Sunderland.

Directed by Nikolai Foster (Billy Elliot The Musical, A Chorus Line), The Wizard of Oz has choreography by Shay Barclay, set design by Colin Richmond, projection design by Douglas O’Connell, costume and puppet design by Rachael Canning, lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Adam Fisher, creative consultancy by Mark Kaufman, musical direction and supervision by George Dyer, casting by Debbie O’Brien, props supervision by Marcus Hall Props, and wigs, hair and make-up design by Elizabeth Marini.