Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.

WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award^® winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething"), and is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. With musical staging by Tony Award^® winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...), WICKED is directed by 2003 Tony Award^® winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Man of No Importance).

"The Best Musical of the Year. If every show had the brain, the heart and the courage of WICKED Broadway would be a magical place."
-- Time Magazine

Check out this video from Behind the Emerald Curtain!

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Mandy Gonzalez Will Fly Into Wicked in March

By Andrew Gans (Playbill.com)
23 Feb 2010

Mandy Gonzalez

Mandy Gonzalez

photo by Aubrey Reuben

Mandy Gonzalez, who created the role of Nina in the Tony-winning In the Heights, will be the latest actress to step into the role of the green-faced, misunderstood not-so-wicked witch Elphaba in the Broadway production of the hit musical Wicked.

Gonzalez, who will succeed Dee Roscioli, will join the cast at the Gershwin Theatre March 23.

She joins a cast that includes Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda, Tony Award winner Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Andy Karl as Fiyero, Alex Brightman as Boq, Jenny Fellner as Nessarose and Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond.

Mandy Gonzalez has also been seen on Broadway in Lennon, Aida and Dance of the Vampires. She received an Obie Award for her work in Off-Broadway's Eli's Comin', and her film and TV credits include "The Good Wife," "One Life to Live," "The Guiding Light" and "Third Watch."

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 journeys.

Wicked features a score by Schwartz, a book by Holzman, direction by Joe Mantello and musical staging by Wayne Cilento. The creative team also includes 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.

Cast List:

Mandy Gonzalez (Elphaba)

Katie Rose Clark (Glinda)

Kathy Fitzgerald (Madame Morrible)

P.J. Benjamin (The Wizard)

Andy Karl (Fiyero)

Alex Brightman (Boq)

Jenny Fellner (Nessarose)

Timothy Britten Parker (Doctor Dillamond)

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (Music and Lyrics) has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker’s Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Personals, Rags and Children of Eden. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He has released two CDs of new songs entitled Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory available at www.stephenschwartz.com. Mr. Schwartz is also the artistic director of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshops and a member of the Dramatists Guild Council. Awards include three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and a tiny handful of tennis trophies.

WINNIE HOLZMAN (Book) received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for Wicked. For television: created “My So-Called Life” (Emmy nom.). Also wrote for “thirtysomething” (WGA Award nom.) and executive produced (again with Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick) “Once and Again” starring Sela Ward. For theatre: Birds of Paradise (with composer David Evans). For features: ’Til There Was You. Ms. Holzman can be seen in Jerry Maguire (if you look really closely). She lives in L.A. with her husband, actor Paul Dooley. Thanks, Arthur. This is for Savannah.

JOE MANTELLO (Director). Directing credits include Three Days of Rain, The Odd Couple, Glengarry Glen Ross, Assassins (Tony Award), Take Me Out (Tony Award), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Man of No Importance, Design for Living, Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for the San Francisco Opera, The Vagina Monologues, bash, Another American: Asking and Telling, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Proposals, The Mineola Twins, Corpus Christi, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, Blue Window, God’s Heart, The Santaland Diaries, Lillian, Snakebit, Three Hotels, Imagining Brad and Fat Men in Skirts. Film: Love! Valour! Compassion! As an actor: Angels in America (Tony nom.) and The Baltimore Waltz. Mr. Mantello is the recipient of the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, ClarenceDerwent, Obie and Joe A. Callaway awards. A member of Naked Angels and an associate artist at the Roundabout.

WAYNE CILENTO (Musical Staging). Broadway: Sweet Charity (Tony nom.), Aida, The Who’s Tommy (Tony, Drama Desk, Astaire awards), How to Succeed… (Tony nom.), Dream: The Johnny Mercer Musical (director/choreographer; Tony nom., Best Choreography), Jerry’s Girls, Baby (Tony nom.). West End: The Who’s Tommy (Olivier nom.). Other credits: Off-Broadway’s A Hot Minute and Angry Housewives, national tour of Spirit, …Forum at La Jolla (San Diego Drama Critics and Drama-Logue awards). Performer credits: A Chorus Line (Mike, original cast), The Act, Seesaw, Perfectly Frank, Irene, Big Deal, Rachel Lily Rosenblum and Dancin’ (Tony nom.). He has done musical staging for Liza Minnelli, Barry Manilow, Chita Rivera, Billy Joel, Donna Summer and Pete Townshend.

EUGENE LEE (Scenic Designer) has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. He has BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr. Lee has won three Tony Awards for Bernstein’s Candide, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Wicked. He is the production designer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Other New York theatre work includes Alice in Wonderland, The Normal Heart, Agnes of God, Ragtime, Uncle Vanya, Ruby Sunrise and A Number. Film credits include Coppola’s Hammett, Huston’s Mr. North and Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street. Mr. Lee is an adjunct professor at Brown University and lives with his wife Brooke in Providence, where they raised their two sons.

SUSAN HILFERTY (Costume Designer) has designed more than 200 productions for theatres across America and internationally. Her directorial collaborators include Athol Fugard (set, costumes, co-director), James Lapine, Robert Falls, Robert Woodruff, Joe Mantello, JoAnne Akalaitis, the late Garland Wright, Mark Lamos, Frank Galati, Des McAnuff, Sharon Ott, David Petrarca, Richard Nelson, Chris Ashley, Marion McClinton, Laurie Anderson, Tony Kushner, Carole Rothman, Mark Linn-Baker, Garry Hynes and Emily Mann. Recent work: Lestat (Tony nom.), Assassins, Into the Woods (Hewes Award, Tony nom.), Jitney, Radio Golf, Dirty Blonde, Alvin Ailey Love Stories and Rodney’s Wife. Currently: Spring Awakening, Frank’s Home, Manon, L.A. Opera. She designs opera, film, TV and dance and chairs the Department of Design for Stage/Film at NYU Tisch. Her numerous awards include 2004 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Wicked.

KENNETH POSNER (Lighting Designer). Broadway: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray, Tom Sawyer (Tony noms.); Coast of Utopia (Shipwreck); The Odd Couple; Lestat; Glengarry Glen Ross; Little Women; The Frogs; Imaginary Friends; Swing!; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Goat; Uncle Vanya; Side Man (Lortel Award); The Lion in Winter; Little Me; A View From the Bridge; The Last Night of Ballyhoo; The Little Foxes; and The Rose Tattoo. Off-Broadway: The Wild Party; The Play About the Baby; tick, tick…BOOM!; The Waverly Gallery; Pride’s Crossing (Lortel Award); As Bees in Honey Drown; Cowgirls; and The Food Chain. Opera includes New York City Opera and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Obie Award for sustained excellence in lighting design.

TONY MEOLA (Sound Designer). Broadway: Laugh Whore; Man of La Mancha; Sweet Smell of Success; Copenhagen; Kiss Me, Kate; Footloose; The Lion King (Drama Desk Award); The Sound of Music; Juan Darien; A Christmas Carol (MSG), Steel Pier; Forum; The King and I; Moon Over Buffalo; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Guys and Dolls; Five Guys Named Moe; She Loves Me; The Red Shoes; Anything Goes. London: Kiss Me, Kate; The Lion King; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; and Anything Goes. National and international: The Lion King, Les Misérables, Mozart, Der Gloeckner von Notre Dame. Off-Broadway includes Here Lies Jenny and The Normal Heart. Tony is a graduate of Ithaca College’s Department of Theatre Arts. Thanks, Dick.

ELAINE J. McCARTHY (Projection Designer). Recent designs include Broadway: Spamalot, Urban Cowboy (consultant), Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, Judgement at Nuremberg, The Green Bird. Off-Broadway: The Thing About Men, Speaking in Tongues, Underneath the Lintel, The It Girl, Boys Don’t Wear Lipstick, Goodbye My Friduchita. Regional: Cobb, Eleanor, Blue Man Group: Tubes (Chicago). National tours: Forgiveness, Spirit. Opera: Dead Man Walking, War and Peace (Kirov and Metropolitan Opera), Tan Dun’s The Gate, Peter Sellar’s The Peony Pavilion. Dance: Remote (White Oak), Philip Glass and Susan Marshall’s Les Enfants Terribles.