Wicked London Cast-- Official?

[admanrich]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:43pm

I found these headshots on the London site:


Adam Garcia
Annalene Beechey
Helen Dallimore
Idina Menzel
James Gillan
Katie Rowley-Jones
Kerry Ellis
Martin Ball
Miriam Margolyes
Nigel Planer

I'm guessing they are announcing it tomorrow?
Updated On: 5/11/06 at 11:43 PM

[mrkringas]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 1:07am

"Annalene Beechey"

Brilliant news! I presume she is cover for Glinda? If so then a friend of mine predicted she would be ideal for the role months before casting started. Glad I didnt make a bet lol. Not exactly a name to most but some of us recall her from stints in LesMis, Phantom and currently playing Cinderella in Derby's Into the Woods.

So where abouts are those headshots? Hidden on a secret menu or something? All the other names check out with people previously "announced". This one was a surprise though.

[lifeisacabaret]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 2:34am

The last press release was 5th may, and those names are nowhere on the site as of 7.30amGMT. So where did you supposedly see the names, because they are not in the cast section of the website.

[lfae]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 4:24am

http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/images/ozmo6/

[danny10086]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 4:41am

Here's the article from Theatre.com

Helen Dallimore to Play Glinda in Wicked; Complete Cast Announced
by Theatre.com Staff

Helen Dallimore will play the coveted role of Glinda in the London production of Wicked. Additionl principal casting includes Katie Rowley Jones, James Gillan and Martin Ball. They will play opposite previously announced cast members Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Adam Garcia as Fiyero, Miriam Margolyes as Madame Morrible and Nigel Planer as The Wizard.


Helen Dallimore will make her West End debut as Glinda, the “good” witch opposite Menzel’s Elphaba, who turns into the Wicked Witch of the West. Dallimore grew up in Oxford but trained in Australia, where she began her career with the Sydney Theatre Company.


Jones, who will play Nessarose, was recently Belle in the national tour of Beauty and the Beast and made her professional stage debut as Swallow in a national tour of Whistle Down the Wind. Gillan, who will portray Boq, was most recently in Assassins at the Crucible, Sheffield, and previously Olivier nominated for his performance in The Who’s Tommy. Ball, who will play Doctor Dillamond, was most recently seen as Harry Bright in Mamma Mia!


Kerry Ellis, previously confirmed to be the standby for Elphaba, is newly joined by Annalene Beechey as the standby to Glinda.


The ensemble has also been announced. It will include Simon Adkins, Paul Ayres, Joseph Connor, Nadine Cox, Sarah Earnshaw, Jye Frasca, Maria Graciano, Nicky Griffiths, Simon Harwick, Pippa Higgs, Melissa Hunte, Cassidy Janson, Caroline Keiff, Joshua Lacey, Andy Mace, Dominic Shaw, Philippa Stefani, Craig Stein, Oliver Tompsett, Tim Walton and Kerry Washington.


The creative team has also been newly augmented by Gareth Valentine as musical supervisor and director. Valentine most recently provided musical supervision and new musical arrangements for Sinatra at the London Palladium and was previously musical supervisor, dance arranger and musical director for Anything Goes at the National Theatre and subsequently the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.



Wicked will begin performances at the West End’s Apollo Victoria Theatre on 7 September and open on 27 September.

Theatre.com article Updated On: 5/12/06 at 04:41 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 4:58am

I love unprotected directories! Thank you! :)

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 10:09am

Very official now:

Producer David Stone introduces the
principal London cast of WICKED.

The final auditions took place at the end of April and we met with some extraordinarily talented people. It was always our best hope that we'd be able to cast the entire production in London, and we were impressed by the exceptional talent brought in for us.

We went into this casting process open-minded but with a thought that, if possible, we would bring Idina Menzel over to recreate her Broadway performance for a limited period - but always with the intention that we'd find a British actress to take on the role straight after. Idina has been such a huge part of the development and success of WICKED for so many years and we wanted to give London theatregoers the opportunity to see her unique and celebrated performance. The London engagement is certain to be the final time that Idina will perform this role, so it's a very special opportunity for all of us to enjoy her powerhouse performance as Elphaba. We thank British Equity for granting us permission to bring Idina Menzel to London.

We are also pleased to thank our Casting Director (Pippa Ailion) for bringing us Kerry Ellis, the sensational performer who will become the first British Elphaba in January. Kerry will act as the 'standby' in the role from the first performance, but then she'll make the role her own.

There has been a great deal of speculation about who would play Glinda in London, with all sorts of names being discussed (and announced!) but none of it was even close to the truth. In one of those great moments that makes the job of being a producer very special, someone completely unknown to us all walked through the audition room door and simply blew us away. Helen Dallimore has never appeared in the West End before, but she found the heart and soul of Glinda from the outset and sang like a dream. It's always exciting to discover new talent, and we feel certain that Helen will make a sensational West End debut in this coveted role.

Adam Garcia worked with us during the workshops for WICKED in New York back in 2002, and we are all delighted that he will now play the role of Fiyero in the city where his stage and television career has flourished for over 10 years.

The wonderful Miriam Margolyes is going to make a funny, and very formidable, Madame Morrible. Miriam has a long history of giving glorious, scene-stealing performances on stage and screen, and we are all honoured to have her as part of the WICKED London company. I first became aware of Nigel Planer in the original cast of Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre where he gave a hugely touching and funny performance as Amos Hart. Nigel began his career in musicals (as the understudy to David Essex in Evita at the Prince Edward Theatre) and has a wonderful singing voice. He surprised and delighted us all with his multi-layered interpretation of The Wizard, which was both poignant and very funny.

When it came to casting the roles of Nessarose, Boq and Doctor Dillamond we all unanimously chose the same three outstanding individuals: Katie Rowley Jones, James Gillan and Martin Ball. Each brought something very special to their character in the audition process.

Annalene Beechey, who has just received rave reviews for her performance as 'Cinderella' in Sondheim's Into The Woods at the Derby Playhouse, will be our Glinda standby.

The WICKED company will also include: Simon Adkins, Paul Ayres, Joseph Connor, Nadine Cox, Sarah Earnshaw, Jye Frasca, Maria Graciano, Nicky Griffiths, Simon Hardwick, Pippa Higgs, Melissa Hunte, Cassidy Janson, Caroline Keiff, Joshua Lacey, Andy Mace, Dominic Shaw, Philippa Stefani, Craig Stein, Oliver Tompsett, Tim Walton and Kerry Washington.

Musical supervisor/director Gareth Valentine has also joined the WICKED creative team. More news in the next issue of Ozmopolitan.

I'd like to thank everyone who came to audition for WICKED. An unprecedented number of people submitted CVs and attended the open dance calls earlier in the year and the final audition process delivered an exceptional level of talent. At the completion of this process, I'm delighted to say that we have secured a truly fantastic company of actors, singers and dancers who are going to make our London premiere production of WICKED really incredible

[alterego]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 10:21am

I'd say that sounds official.

[Claire2141]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:28am

Got my 'Ozmopolitan' email today so yep all is official!

I'm VERY happy with the cast, especially that Kerry Ellis is replacing Idina in Jan. To use a pun 'I couldn't be happier'!

Roll on September, so happy we got a 'unkown' as Glinda - thank god the rumours about Jane 'Ally McBeal Woman' wasn't cast. So happy.

[Sparklesss]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 7:25pm

i just saw kerry ellis in london in les mis and she was AMAZING...and i thought she'd be a great elphie...so glad to hear she will be. she wont dissappoint!