Lenny Wolpe to Join Wicked as The Wizard, July 10

Beginning performances Tuesday, July 10, Lenny Wolpe will play The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the Broadway musical Wicked.  He joins a cast which currently includes Julia Murney as Elphaba, Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Jayne Houdyshell as Madame Morrible, Sebastian Arcelus as Fiyero, Cristy Candler as Nessarose, Logan Lipton as Boq, and Steven Skybell as Dr. Dillamond.   David Garrison is playing the role of The Wizard through Sunday, July 8.

Wolpe created the role of The Wizard in the original LA workshops of Wicked.  He has appeared on Broadway in The Drowsy Chaperone, The Sound of Music, Copperfield, Into the Light, and Onward Victoria, and off-Broadway in Mayor, Brownstone, Company, and The Wonder Years.  His national tour credits include Little Shop of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, South Pacific, and regional work includes The Baker's Wife (Baker), Gypsy (Herbie opposite Betty Buckley), The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Papermill Playhouse), A Class Act, Radio Gals (Pasadena Playhouse), Fiddler… (Tevye in six productions), Fiorello, and She Loves Me (Reprise! L.A.)  He was a series regular on the TV shows "Baby Talk" and "You're The One," and has guest starred on over 80 shows from "L.A. Law," "ER," "Six Feet Under," "And The Band Played On" to "Golden Girls," "Ally McBeal" and "The Chappelle Show."

"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 Witch," state press notes.

The musical has been sold out at virtually every performance since opening on Broadway.  Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman, and musical staging by Wayne Cilento.  The production is directed by Joe Mantello.  The Grammy Award-winning original cast recording of Wicked, produced by Stephen Schwartz for Decca Broadway, has been one of the fastest selling Broadway recordings of recent years and has been certified 'Platinum' by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com.  For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com.  Wicked is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.

Photo by Ben Strothmann