The company also welcomes Gina Beck as Glinda. Beck and Fraser join a cast that includes Alison Luff as Elphaba and John Davidson as The Wizard.
The company also features Tom Flynn (Dr. Dillamond), Curt Hansen (Fiyero), Jesse JP Johnson (Boq), Jaime Rosenstein (Nessarose) and Laurel Harris (standby for Elphaba) with Keith A. Bearden, Shayla Beck, Dina Bennett, Kyle Brown, Nirine S. Brown, John Carroll, Rick Desloge, Timothy A. Fitz-Gerald, Adam Fleming, Jenny Florkowski, Lindsay Janisse, Spencer Jones, Sheila Karls, Ryan Patrick Kelly, Trevor Ryan Krahl, Marina Lazzaretto, Alison Leo, Marissa Lupp, Raymond Joel Matsamura, Jonathan McGill, Kevin McMahon, Meredith Miles, Shanon Mari Mills, Cassie Okenka, Brandon Rubendall, Christopher Russo, Pamela Shandrow, Daniel Switzer, Shanna VanDerwerker and Nicky Venditti.
Fraser is a two-time Tony Award nominee for The Secret Garden and Romance/Romance. Other Broadway credits include Gypsy, Tartuffe, Born Again and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Beck is making her U.S. debut in Wicked; she comes to the tour directly from the West End production of Wicked, where she also played Glinda. Other West End credits include Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera and Cosette in Les Misérables.
Based on Gregory Maguire's novel, which turned every Oz myth inside out, Wicked explores the early life of the witches of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba. The two main characters meet at Shiz, a school where both hope to take up sorcery. Glinda is madly popular and Elphaba is, well, green. By a misunderstanding, they wind up roommates and, after an initial period of mutual loathing, begin to learn something about each other. Their life paths continue to intersect through a shared love, entry into the Emerald City and interaction with the Wizard himself. Eventually, their choices and convictions take them on widely different paths. Wicked features a score by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman, direction by Joe Mantello and musical staging by Wayne Cilento. The production also features scenic design by Eugene Lee, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Tony Meola, projections by Elaine J. McCarthy, wig and hair design by Tom Watson, music supervision and arrangements by Stephen Oremus, orchestrations by William David Brohn and dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.
Wicked won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Menzel), Best Costume Design (Susan Hilferty) and Best Scenic Design (Eugene Lee).
Wicked is currently playing the Oriental Theatre through Dec. 21. Tickets start at $40. Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at BroadwayInChicago.com.
