Lisa Howard, most recently seen on Broadway in Escape to Margaritaville, will step into the role of Madame Morrible in the national tour of the international hit musical Wicked beginning February 1 at Centennial Hall in Tucson, Arizona. Howard succeeds Sharon Sachs who, as previously reported, will assume the role on Broadway.
Howard will join a cast that currently includes Talia Suskauer as Elphaba, Allison Bailey as Glinda, Tony Award winner Cleavant Derricks as The Wizard, Clifton Davis as Doctor Dillamond, Amanda Fallon Smith as Nessarose, Jordan Litz as Fiyero, and DJ Plunkett as Boq.
Travante S. Baker, Anthony Lee Bryant, Nick Burrage, Jordan Casanova, Matt Densky, Marie Eife, Ryan Patrick Farrell, Sara Gonzales, Kelly Lafarga, Marina Lazzaretto, Megan Loomis, Ryan Mac, Alida Michal, Jennafar Newberry, Alicia Newcom, David Scott Purdy, Jackie Raye, Rebecca Gans Revis, Andy Richardson, Jenna Nicole Schoen, Wayne Schroder, Paul Schwensen, Ben Susak, and Justin Wirick round out the ensemble. Natalia Vivino is the Elphaba standby.
Howard, who has also been seen on Broadway in It Shoulda Been You; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; 9 to 5; South Pacific; and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, recently released her first holiday album, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
Since opening on Broadway October 30, 2003, Wicked has been performed in over 100 cities in 16 countries. In October 2019, the international hit musical surpassed Les Misérables to become the fifth longest-running production in Broadway history.
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Wicked, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
The Joe Mantello-helmed production features musical staging by Wayne Cilento, 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. Casting is by the Telsey Office.
The musical, which reopened on Broadway September 14, 2021, following the pandemic shutdown, is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone.
