David Witts and Chris Jarman Join the Cast of WICKED; Alice Fearn, Sophie Evans, and More Renew

The West End production of Wicked has confirmed that Alice Fearn (Elphaba), Sophie Evans (Glinda), Melanie La Barrie (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Jack Lansbury (Boq), Laura Pick (Standby for Elphaba) and Carina Gillespie & Maria Coyne* (Standby for Glinda) will all continue in their current roles. Joining them, from Monday 23 July 2018, will be the previously announced David Witts as Fiyero together with Chris Jarman (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Doctor Dillamond and current cast member Rosa O'Reilly, who takes over the role of Nessarose.

Bradley Jaden (Fiyero), Sarah McNicholas (Nessarose) and original cast member Martin Ball (Doctor Dillamond) will all play their final performances on Saturday 21 July 2018.

The full new cast from Monday 23 July 2018 is confirmed as: Alice Fearn (Elphaba), Sophie Evans (Glinda), David Witts (Fiyero), Melanie La Barrie (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Chris Jarman (Doctor Dillamond), Rosa O'Reilly (Nessarose), Jack Lansbury (Boq), Laura Pick (Standby for Elphaba), Carina Gillespie & Maria Coyne* (Standby for Glinda), Jennie Abbotts, Meg Astin, Rebecca Botterill, Nicole Carlisle, Conor Crown, Jonathan David Dudley, Lewis Easter, Kerry Enright, Aimée Fisher, André Fabien Francis, Chris George, Tom Andrew Hargreaves, Maggie Lynne, Carl Man, Rhidian Marc, James McHugh, Ellie Mitchell, Sam Robinson, Scott Sutcliffe, Genevieve Taylor, Paulo Teixeira, Samantha Thomas, Libby Watts, Bryony Whitfield, Chiarina Woodall and Tom Woollaston. *Maternity cover.

David Witts (Fiyero) starred as 'Joey Branning' in EastEnders, for which he won 'Best Newcomer' at the 2013 National Television Awards. He also won an Inside Soap Award and was nominated for a British Soap Award. For American television, he has recently been a series regular in Recovery Road (for ABC/Freeform) and I Ship It (for the CW Network). He also completed filming An Unpleasant Surprise and Pride and Prejudice, Cut. On stage, he starred as 'Link Larkin' in Hairspray at Leicester Curve Theatre. David trained at the National Youth Theatre and National Youth Music Theatre.

Chris Jarman (Doctor Dillamond) most recently played 'Hagrid' and the 'Sorting Hat' in the original London cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. His other West End credits include 'The General' in the original cast of The Book of Mormon and 'Shank' in the original cast of Sister Act The Musical. For the National Theatre he appeared in The Comedy of Errors, directed by Dominic Cooke, and his many appearances with the RSC include The Merchant of Venice, directed by Rupert Goold. Chris is also the voice of the mysterious villain 'The Mechanic' in ITV's Thunderbirds Are Go.

Rosa O'Reilly (Nessarose) originally joined the London cast of Wicked in August 2016 and has already played the role of 'Nessarose' on many occasions. Prior to Wicked, Rosa's other credits included 'Soul Girl' in Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) and 'Elizabeth' in Dirty Dancing (West End and UK Tour).

"One of the biggest success stories of contemporary musical theatre" (WhatsOnStage) and "a cultural phenomenon" (Official London Theatre), Wicked is already the 14th longest running show in West End theatre history and has now been seen by more than 9 million people in London alone. Around the world, Wicked has won over 100 major awards, including ten theatregoer-voted WhatsOnStage Awards (winning 'Best West End Show' on three occasions) and two Olivier Audience Awards in the UK.

WICKED is also presently on a year-long tour of the UK & Ireland and, having already broken Box Office records in Bristol, Liverpool and Birmingham, is currently playing at the Edinburgh Playhouse until 9 June 2018. The critically acclaimed tour will subsequently visit Leeds, Dublin, Sunderland, Southampton, Cardiff and, for Christmas 2018/19, a final return to the Palace Theatre in Manchester (where the acclaimed touring production originally premiered in September 2013 and will conclude on 5 January 2019).

Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire that ingeniously re-imagines the stories and characters created by L. Frank Baum in 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as 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, The Prince of Egypt) and is based on the best-selling 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). Music arrangements are by Tony Award-winners Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton) and Stephen Oremus (Disney's Frozen). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento and the production is directed 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); Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSH Charity), the National Literacy Trust and the Woodland Trust. Further information can be found at www.WickedForGood.co.uk

Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LG