Find out where the original West End cast of 'Wicked' is now

The London premiere of the long-running musical featured stars like Idina Menzel, Helen Dallimore, and Miriam Margolyes.

Summary

• The original West End cast of the hit musical was led by Idina Menzel
• Other key London cast members of 'Wicked' include Kerry Ellis and Miriam Margolyes
• The actors have since starred in productions like 'Anything Goes' and '42nd Street'

It’s not long until we get the second spell-binding Wicked movie, Wicked: For Good, once again starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey, so it’s the perfect time to head back to Oz via the beloved West End production of Wicked.

The show is currently led by Emma Kingston as Elphaba, Zizi Strallen as Glinda, Carl Man as Fiyero, Sarah Ingram as Madame Morrible, and Michael Matus as the Wizard. They’re the latest in an incredible line of actors who have inhabited these iconic roles, beginning with the original West End cast from 2006.

Find out where the gravity-defying West End Wicked cast is now!

Book Wicked tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Idina Menzel

The wonderful Menzel originated the role of Elphaba on Broadway (winning a Tony Award in the process) and then reprised the green-skinned part in the West End. She has since gone on to do numerous acclaimed stage productions, including If/Then, Gutenberg! The Musical!, and, in the most recent Broadway season, Redwood.

Menzel has become a screen star too, thanks to movies and TV shows like Enchanted, the film version of musical Rent, Cinderella, Glee, and of course the Disney phenomenon Frozen. She returns as Elsa in Frozen 3 in 2027.

Kerry Ellis

Although not quite the first West End Elphaba, Ellis is deeply associated with the role in fans’ minds as she took over from Menzel in 2007 and was the first English actress to lead the show in London. It’s one of numerous stage credits, which also include We Will Rock You, Oliver!, Cats, Anything Goes, and 101 Dalmatians.

Ellis has also recorded albums, including sucessful collaborations with Brian May, and done multiple concerts. She had a cameo appearance in the Les Misérables movie – and you can also spot her in the upcoming Wicked: For Good.

Helen Dallimore

It’s good to see her! Dallimore was the first ever Glinda to ride the magic bubble in the West End. The actress has since worked in both the UK and Australia, doing theatre shows like Guys and Dolls, Boeing Boeing, Spring Awakening, Muriel’s Wedding, and Blood Brothers.

In 2010 Dallimore played Cinderella in the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Into the Woods, and she was Paulette in the Australian premiere of Legally Blonde The Musical. Her screen work includes a TV version of South Pacific. Most recently she starred in the Australia and New Zealand touring production of the Bob Dylan-scored show Girl from the North Country.

Adam Garcia

Fellow Aussie star Garcia played Fiyero in the West End premiere of Wicked. The Olivier-nominated actor has done lots more theatre, including Saturday Night Fever, Kiss Me, Kate, 42nd Street, and most recently the UK and Ireland tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

On screen, he’s appeared in movies such as Coyote Ugly, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and the Agatha Christie films Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. His TV projects include Got to Dance, Dancing with the Stars, and, most recently, The Serpent Queen and The Masked Dancer.

Miriam Margolyes

The fabulously outspoken, Bafta-winning character actress played Madame Morrible in both the West End and Broadway productions of Wicked. Margolyes is beloved by Harry Potter fans for her Professor Sprout in the film series, and her numerous other screen credits include Yentl, The Age of Innocence, Romeo + Juliet, I, Claudius, Blackadder, Deadwood, Heroes, and Call the Midwife.

Margolyes has also written three memoirs recently, presents travelogues, and has an impressive history on stage, with productions such as She Stoops to Conquer, Endgame, Me and My Girl, and The Lady in the Van. She was Olivier-nominated for her solo show Dickens’ Women.

Katie Rowley Jones

The British rising star was the first to ever play Elphaba’s sister Nessarose on the West End stage, alongside Idina Menzel. It was an early theatre credit for her, and she clearly loved the show as she returned to Wicked to play Nessarose again in 2012 and acted as second understudy for Elphaba.

Rowley Jones’s other theatre work includes iconic roles like Sandy in Grease, Janet in The Rocky Horror Show, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Sister Mary Robert in the original London production of Sister Act in 2009.

James Gillan

Our very first London Boq was Scottish actor Gillan, who had started his career in the touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. He also played Rusty in Starlight Express, the title role in Pippin, Marilyn in Taboo, and was Olivier nominated for playing Pinball lad in Tommy.

His other shows have included Assassins, Peter Pan, and most recently Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Sheffield Crucible and in the West End, and Lord Farquaad in the Shrek the Musical tour. He has also recorded music for his brother George Paterson’s rock group DMP, and for musical theatre albums.

Nigel Planer

Planer succeeded Broadway’s Joel Grey as the West End’s original Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The highly respected veteran actor has actually been part of several original London casts, including Evita, the 1997 revival of Chicago, We Will Rock You, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

He was a founding member of alt-comedy group The Comedy Strip and played Neil in The Young Ones. His other screen work has included Inside No. 9, Bright Young Things, The Land Girls, Blackadder, French and Saunders, Grantchester, and Episodes.

Martin Ball

Our original Dr Dillamond in the West End, Ball has plenty of other impressive shows to his name. He also originated the role of Horace in Top Hat, and played Andre and Firmin in The Phantom of the Opera, Thénardier in Les Misérables, George Banks in Mary Poppins, Harry Bright in Mamma Mia!, and Maurice in Beauty and the Beast.

His screen work includes Keeping Mum, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Doctor Who. Ball clearly had a soft spot for Wicked though, and for the part that he originated in the West End: he returned to play Doctor Dillamond for the show’s 10th anniversary in 2016.

Main photo credit: Idina Menzel in Wicked (Photo by Joan Marcus). Inset: Kerry Ellis in Anything Goes, Adam Garcia in 42nd Street, Miriam Margolyes in Harry Potter, James Gillan in Shrek the Musical (Photos by Marc Brenner, Johan Persson, courtesy of the film, Marc Brenner)