Christine Dwyer & Billy Harrigan Tighe Join The North American WICKED Tour from Today, 5/2

The company of the second North American tour of WICKED welcomes Christine Dwyer as Elphaba and Billy Harrigan Tighe as Fiyero today, May 2 in Durham, NC.

Dwyer returns to WICKED after touring as the understudy and standby for Elphaba on this tour for two years. After graduating with a BFA from the Hartt School of Music, she toured the US, Canada, and Japan playing Maureen in RENT. NYC/Regional productions include Tommy, Tinyard Hill, Gypsy and The New Hopeville Comics.

Tighe also returns to WICKED after previously understudying Fiyero on this tour. He comes directly from the First National Tour of La Cage Aux Folles as Jean-Michel and is thrilled to be back in Oz. Other Tour: Dirty Dancing. Regional: Hairspray (Link), Happy Days (Potsie), Footloose (Ren), Dreamgirls (Dave), MUNY & Symphony concerts across North America.

Dwyer and Tighe join a cast that includes Tiffany Haas as Glinda, Marilyn Caskey as Madame Morrible and Paul Kreppel as The Wizard.

The company also features Catherine Charlebois (Nessarose), Dan Pacheco (Boq), Timothy Britten Parker (Dr. Dillamond) and Stephanie Torns (Standby for Elphaba) with Kerry Blanchard, Michael Drolet, Jeremy Duvall, Anna Eilinsfeld, Peter C. Ermides, Ryan Patrick Farrell, Samantha Farrow, Natalie Fotopoulos, Linda Griffin, Lauren Haughton, Zach Hensler, KJ Hippensteel, Ryan Jackson, Jillian Kates, Becca Kloha, Sterling Masters, Marissa Miller, Robert Pendilla, Casey Quinn, Michael McCorry Rose, Wayne Schroder, Ben Susak, Erin Wilson and Justin Wirick.

WICKED began performances April 18 at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. Good seats are still available online at Ticketmaster.com/wicked, charge by phone 1-800-745-3000, at the North Charleston Coliseum Advance Ticket Office or Ticketmaster outlets (including select Publix stores).

Dwyer and Tighe join WICKED in conjunction with the tour’s opening in Durham, NC. WICKED will play May 2-27 at DPAC. Tickets are available online at DPACnc.com or Ticketmaster.com/wicked, at the DPAC Ticket Center: 123 Vivian Street, Durham, NC, Ticketmaster Charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000, and Ticketmaster outlets including Crabtree Valley Mall and Walmart.

WICKED, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney’s Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”), is based on the 1995 best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

WICKED features set design by Tony Award winning Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee Kenneth Posner (Tony Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King). Stephen Oremus is the show’s music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

WICKED has stormed throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called “a cultural phenomenon” by Variety, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently seven productions of WICKED worldwide: New York; London; Japan; Holland; Australian/Asian Tour; and two concurrent North American Tours.

Grammy Award-Winning Cast recording available on Decca Broadway. For more information about WICKED log on to www.wickedthemusical.com.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.