Wicked: Plowright withdraws ill - Thorpe takes over

Louise Plowright has withdrawn as 'Madame Morrible' in Wicked, due to ill health. Harriet Thorpe will return to the role from 22 April 2013.

The cast to 16 Nov 2013 includes Louise Dearman (Elphaba), Gina Beck (Glinda), Ben Freeman (Fiyero), Keith Bartlett (The Wizard ), Katie Rowley Jones ( Nessarose), Christopher Howell (Doctor Dillamond) , Sam Lupton (Boq), Harriet Thorpe (Madame Morrible,from 22 April).

Wicked, opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre 27 Sep 2006, following previews from 7 Sep, and has since been seen by over 5 million people.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman.

It is directed by Joe Mantello, scenic design by Eugene Lee, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Kenneth Posner, sound by Tony Meola, orchestrations by William David Brohn, musical staging by Wayne Cilento.

Two girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, feisty and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very, very popular. WICKED is the story of these two unlikely friends and how they end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.