Nikki Bentley, Helen Woolf, and More Join WICKED

WICKED, the West End and Broadway musical sensation that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, has announced that Nikki Bentley and Helen Woolf will lead the new London cast as Elphaba and Glinda respectively, alongside the previously announced Alistair Brammer as Fiyero, from Monday 22 July 2019.

Nikki Bentley (Elphaba), Helen Woolf (Glinda) and Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible) join the London production to recreate the roles they played to national acclaim on the recent Wicked UK & Ireland Tour; Carina Gillespie returns to the role of Nessarose that she previously played on the 2013-15 UK & Ireland Tour. Idriss Kargbo ('Little Moe' in Five Guys Named Moe, Marble Arch Theatre; 'Young Simba' in The Lion King, Lyceum Theatre) returns to the London production to play Boq for a limited engagement until Saturday 10 November 2019; Simeon Truby ('Jonas Fogg' in Sweeney Todd, Adelphi Theatre) will play Doctor Dillamond; Andy Hockley ('Monsieur Firmin' in The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre; 'Mr Jolly' in Playdays: The Roundabout Stop, CBBC) continues as The Wizard; Lisa-Anne Wood ('Christine Daaé' in The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre) joins the company as Standby for Glinda and Laura Pick continues as Standby for Elphaba. They are all joined by the previously announced Alistair Brammer ('Chris' in Miss Saigon on Broadway and at London's Prince Edward Theatre) as Fiyero. Natasha Ferguson (42nd Street, Theatre Royal Drury Lane; Wicked UK & International Tours) will be maternity cover for Nessarose.

From Monday 22 July 2019, Wicked will star Nikki Bentley (Elphaba), Helen Woolf (Glinda), Alistair Brammer (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Carina Gillespie/Natasha Ferguson* (Nessarose), Idriss Kargbo (Boq), Laura Pick (Standby for Elphaba), Lisa-Anne Wood (Standby for Glinda), Chanelle Anthony, Meg Astin, Rebecca Botterill, Michael Colbourne, Lewis Easter, Nolan Edwards, Kerry Enright, Chris George, Rebecca Gilliland, Lucie Horsfall, Nicole Lupino, Maggie Lynne, Stuart Maciver, Carl Man, Rhidian Marc, Joanna Sawyer, Scott Sutcliffe, Genevieve Taylor, Grant Thresh, James Titchener, Libby Watts, Bryony Whitfield, Chad Wilder, Dickie Wood, Chiarina Woodall and Tom Woollaston.

*Maternity cover.

Alice Fearn (Elphaba), Sophie Evans (Glinda), David Witts (Fiyero), Melanie La Barrie (Madame Morrible), Chris Jarman (Doctor Dillamond), Rosa O'Reilly (Nessarose) and Jack Lansbury (Boq) will all play their final performances on Saturday 20 July 2019.

"Packed with wit, storming songs and beautiful costumes" (The Guardian), Wicked is already the 9th longest running musical in West End history. Winner of over 100 major awards, including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and ten theatregoer-voted WhatsOnStage Awards (winning 'Best West End Show' on three separate occasions), the classic musical has now been seen by almost 10 million people in London alone.

Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked imagines an ingenious backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum's beloved characters from 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' and reveals the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely University friends on their journey to becoming Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

WICKED has music and lyrics by multi Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell; Disney's Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted and, for Dreamworks Animation, The Prince of Egypt) and is based on the novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento and direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.

WICKED is produced around the world by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK) Michael McCabe.

Through its FOR GOOD programme and other charitable endeavours, Wicked is proud to support the remarkable work of the following UK charities: Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA); the National Literacy Trust and the Woodland Trust. Further information can be found at www.WickedForGood.co.uk.

Official UK website: www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk