Mark Curry, who first played The Wizard as part of Wicked's 10th anniversary London company in 2016-17, returns to that role in the international hit musical at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre beginning October 18.
Actor, broadcaster, and former Blue Peter presenter Curry succeeds Gary Wilmot, who played his final performance October 16.
Curry, whose London credits include Talent and The Woman in Black, said in a recent statement, "I’m thrilled to be returning to Oz after five years away and to have this opportunity to play The Wizard again in the incredible Wicked. I look forward to joining this brilliant cast and working again with the fantastic creative team and producers.”
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The London company currently features Lucie Jones as Elphaba, Helen Woolf as Glinda, Ryan Reid as Fiyero, Sophie-Louise Dann as Madame Morrible, Carina Gillespie as Nessarose, Nicholas McLean as Boq, Simeon Truby as Doctor Dillamond, Amy Webb as standby for Elphaba, and Lisa-Anne Wood as standby for Glinda.
The ensemble includes Yuki Abe, Kofi Aidoo-Appiah, Meg Astin, Alishia-Marie Blake, Pàje Campbell, Michael Colbourne, Fergus Dale, Nolan Edwards, Nicola Espallardo, Danny Fogarty, Laura Harrison, Amie Hibbert, Lucie Horsfall, Samuel How, Christian Knight, Nick Len, Jasmine Leung, Maggie Lynne, Rhidian Marc, PaddyJoe Martin, Jessica-Alice McCluskey, Stacey McGuire, Harry Mills, Lewis Newton, Natalie Spriggs, Samantha Thomas, Joe Thompson-Oubari, and James Titchener.
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, the musical is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
The Joe Mantello-helmed production features musical staging by Wayne Cilento, 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.