Stephen Schwartz Weaves 'WICKED' Tale to Florida Weekly

The 2nd North American tour of the worldwide smash WICKED launches at the Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, FL on March 7, and runs through March 29, 2009. A limited number of seats are still available for all performances and can be purchased at the box office, by calling (239) 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com.  Stephen Schwartz discusses the story behind the story of WICKED with Florida Weekly Online, you can read it by clicking here.

In the 2nd North American National Tour, the role of Elphaba will be played by Marcie Dodd and the role of Glinda will be played by HeléNe Yorke. Playing the role of Madame Morrible will be Marilyn Caskey and The Wizard will be played by Tom McGowan.

Marcie Dodd comes directly from the Broadway company of WICKED, where she appeared as Elphaba. She has also performed on the North American tour and the Los Angeles companies ofWICKED, where she was the standby for Elphaba. Other tours include Hairspray, We Will Rock You, and Grease as well as multiple projects and recordings with Disney Entertainment and Universal Studios.

HeléNe Yorke was recently in Grease on Broadway. Her Off-Broadway credits include What's That Smell... at Atlantic Theatre Company, and Walmartopia at The Minetta Lane. She has toured the country in Disney's High School Musical and has performed in numerous productions at PCLO and Music Theatre of Wichita. Heléne holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan.

Marilyn Caskey's many Broadway credits include Gypsy with Patti LuPone, Phantom of the Opera, The American Clock, and The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall. She was also seen in the national tour of Man of La Mancha and the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard. Marilyn has performed across the country including productions at DC's Arena, Goodspeed, Pittsburgh CLO, Coconut Grove, and The Papermill Playhouse.

Tom McGowan received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his performance in La Bete and has also been seen on Broadway in Chicago and Ivanov. He won an Obie Award for his work in The Food Chain; other Off-Broadway credits include A Few Stout Individuals, The Winter's Tale and Coriolanus. Tom's numerous television roles include Kenny, the station manager, on "Frasier" and Bernie on "Everybody Loves Raymond," among others. 

The company includes David de Vries (Doctor Dillamond), Colin Donnell (Fiyero), Ted Ely (Boq), Kristine Reese (Nessarose), and Carrie Manolakos (Standby for Elphaba). Rounding out the cast are Meredith Akins, Alicia L. Albright, Kerry Blanchard, Anne Brummel, Jeremy Duvall, Peter C. Ermides, Ryan Patrick Farrell, Jenn Furman, Jacqueline Graziano, Charles Hagerty, Todd Hanebrink, Gregory Haney, Zach Hanna, Lauren Linville, Michelle London, Shylo M. Martinez, Nathan Peck, Casey Quinn, Don Richard, Libby Servais, Daniel Torres, Nicky Venditti, Natalie Weiss, Erin Wilson, and Kevin Samual Yee.

WICKED has "cast quite a spell" (Washington Post) 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 "one of the most successful shows in Broadway history" by The New York Times and "a phenomenon that keeps growing" by the Los Angeles Times, WICKEDcontinues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions ofWICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production ofWICKED will open in 2010.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello, with Musical Staging by Wayne Cilento. WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

Winner of 20 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards,WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz. 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

For more information about WICKED, log on to www.wickedthemusical.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.