Alyssa Fox Will Defy Gravity in WICKED on Broadway
Hard work and persistence get you far in Munchkinland. Alyssa Fox, who has been in the Wicked family for over 13 years, will take over the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production, starting March 7. She’ll star opposite the previously announced McKenzie Kurtz as Glinda, who joins in mid-February.
Fox was last seen as the standby for Elphaba on Broadway, after playing the role on the national tour, and as the understudy in the San Francisco company. She was also the Elsa standby in the original cast of Disney’s Frozen on Broadway.
The current cast of Wicked includes Brittney Johnson as Glinda, James D. Gish as Fiyero, Tony nominee Clifton Davis as Doctor Dillamond, Mikayla Renfrow as Nessarose, Michael Wartella as Boq, and Tony winners Cleavant Derricks and Michele Pawk as The Wizard and Madame Morrible, respectively. The current Elphaba, Talia Suskauer, will play her final performance on March 5.
Wicked opened at the Gershwin in 2003 and is currently the 5th longest-running show on Broadway. The musical, adapted from Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name, has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman.
An upcoming movie adaptation of Wicked, directed by Jon Chu, will star Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. Olivier winner Jonathan Bailey is Fiyero while Ethan Slater is Boq, 2023 Oscar nominee Michelle Yeoh is Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum is the Wizard. Recently announced were Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bronwyn James as ShenShen, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Aaron Teoh as Avaric, and Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik. The movie will be split into two parts, released on Christmas 2024 and 2025.
The Broadway production of Wicked is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. The producers are Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone.
