Photos: Mary Kate Morrissey Shares Photos from Rehearsals for WICKED on Broadway

WICKED is getting ready to welcome new cast members to the Gershwin Theatre this Spring!  Starting Tuesday, March 5, Mary Kate Morrissey, who has played Elphaba on tour and is the current Broadway standby, will assume the role of Elphaba and Alexandra Socha, most recently seen on Broadway in Head Over Heels, will step into the role of Glinda.

Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie will take over the role of Madame Morrible, Broadway newcomer Natalie Ortega will assume the role of Nessarose, and Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar will become The Emerald City’s newest Wizard.

Mary Kate Morrissey shared photos of the new cast in rehearsals. Get a sneak peek below!

BIOS:

Mary Kate Morrissey (Elphaba). MK is honored to be the 25th woman to play Elphaba full time on Broadway. MK spent a decade touring through 92 cities with Wicked (Elphaba), Mean Girls (Janis), and Hair (Sheila), before making her Broadway debut last year as the Elphaba Standby. She is a graduate of Syracuse University. @maryspacekate

Alexandra Socha (Glinda). Broadway credits include Head Over Heels, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Spring Awakening. Encores!: Mabel in Mack & Mabel, Paint Your Wagon. Off-Broadway credits include Actually (MTC), Fun Home (The Public, Lortel nomination), Death Takes a Holiday and Dream of the Burning Boy (Roundabout, Drama League nomination). Regional: Papermill Playhouse, Williamstown, Yale Repertory. Television: Skye on Amazon’s “Red Oaks,” “Mrs. Maisel,” “Evil,” “The Big C,” and many more.

Donna McKechnie (Madame Morrible) received a Best Actress Tony Award for her performance in A Chorus Line. Other Broadway shows include How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; The Education of Hyman Kaplan; Sondheim – A Musical Tribute (which she also choreographed); Promises, Promises; Company; On The Town; State Fair (Fred Astaire Award); and The Visit. She has starred in and choreographed numerous productions regionally as well as productions in London's West End, Paris, and Tokyo. Her TV credits include “Hullaballoo,” “Fame,” “Cheers,” “Dark Shadows,” and HBO Specials. Films include The Little Prince and Every Little Step. Donna's memoir, Time Steps, was published by Simon and Schuster. In 2021, Ms. McKechnie was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Natalie Ortega (Nessarose) is making her Broadway debut.  Regional: In the Heights; Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (The Kimmel Center). Film/TV: "Search Party" (Max) "Maybe I Do." @nataliegraceortega

Brad Oscar (The Wizard). Broadway: Mrs. Doubtfire, Something Rotten! (Tony nomination), Big Fish, Nice Work…, The Addams Family, Spamalot, The Producers (Tony nomination), Jekyll & Hyde, Aspects of Love. West End: The Producers. National Tour: The Phantom of the Opera, Young Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors, Broadway Bounty Hunter, Sweeney Todd, Forbidden Broadway. Regional: Arena Stage, Old Globe, La Jolla, McCarter, among others. Film: Ghost Town, The Producers. TV: "Smash" "The Good Wife" and three "Law & Orders.”

ABOUT Wicked

Currently the 4th longest-running show in Broadway history, WICKED celebrated its 20th Anniversary on Broadway last October.

Winner of over 100 international awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, WICKED has been performed in over 100 cities in 16 countries around the world (U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, The Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Switzerland and China) and has thus far been translated into six languages: Japanese, German, Dutch, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese. WICKED has been seen by over 65 million people worldwide and has amassed over $5.5 billion in global sales. 

In addition to the Broadway production, WICKED in North America has enjoyed unprecedented record-breaking sit-down engagements in Chicago, where it ran for nearly four years; Los Angeles, where it ran for two years; and San Francisco, where it ran for nearly two years, as well as two North American Tours.

The Broadway sensation WICKED looks at what happened in the Land of Oz…but from a different angle.  Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin, who is smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.”

With a thrilling score that includes the hits “Defying Gravity,” “Popular” and “For Good,” WICKED has been hailed by The New York Times as “the defining musical of the decade,” and by Time Magazine as “a magical Broadway musical with brains, heart, and courage.”  NBC Nightly News calls the hit musical “the most successful Broadway show ever.” 

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman.  The production is directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello with musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento.  WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus