For 21 years, Wicked has welcomed Broadway theatregoers to Oz in overwhelming number, breaking the Gershwin Theatre's house record dozens of times. The musical spectacle features a star-studded cast singing Stephen Schwartz’s fantastical score, which has led to record-breaking grosses, and now, a blockbuster screen adaptation.

But whatever happened to that original 2003 cast? Playbill checks in with the company to see what they've been up to since their "One Short Day" when they changed Broadway for good.

Idina Menzel, Elphaba
This green girl hasn't been far from the spotlight since 2003! Having won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance, Menzel left Wicked on Broadway with a bang when she fell through a trap door and cracked a lower rib during her penultimate performance. While Menzel could not perform the full show of her final scheduled performance, she did complete the musical's final scene and bow with the cast January 9, 2005. Shortly after exiting as the Green Girl, Menzel reprised her role as Maureen in Rent for the big screen in 2005. She continued her screen work as Nancy in Disney’s Enchanted, released in 2007, before playing mom to Lea Michele’s character on Fox’s Glee. Menzel provided the voice for Queen Elsa in Disney’s 2013 Oscar-winning animated feature Frozen as well as its sequel, Frozen 2. She has also returned to New York theatre, starring in If/Then on Broadway in 2014, Skintight Off-Broadway with Roundabout Theatre Company in 2018, and upcoming, in Redwood, which Menzel conceived. Beginning performances January 24, 2025, the show will play the Nederlander Theatre.

Kristin Chenoweth, Glinda
Already a Tony winner before Wicked for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Chenoweth returned to Broadway several times after her Tony-nominated performance as Glinda. Chenoweth starred in The Apple Tree (2006); Promises, Promises opposite Sean Hayes (2010); On the Twentieth Century (2015); and her one-woman shows Kristin Chenoweth: My Love Letter to Broadway (2016) and Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls (2019). Her performance in The Apple Tree was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, while her performance in On the Twentieth Century earned her a third Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award wins. She also joined with Alan Cumming to host the Tony Awards in 2015! In addition to her vast theatre résumé, Chenoweth has appeared in several films and on television, namely The West Wing as Annabeth Schott, Pushing Daisies as lead Olive Snook, GCB as lead Carleen Cockburn, Glee as April Rhodes, Hairspray Live! as Velma Von Tussle, American Gods as Easter, Schmigadoon!, and as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Chenoweth is expected to return to Broadway next season in The Queen of Versailles, a new musical by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz.

Norbert Leo Butz, Fiyero
Before Wicked, Butz made his Broadway debut as a replacement in Rent and in Thou Shalt Not, which earned him his first Tony nomination. After originating the heartthrob Prince Fiyero (and meeting his wife on the job, original Nessarose Michelle Federer), Butz went on to star in a hot streak of Broadway shows starting with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), for which he won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. Butz then starred in a straight play Is He Dead? (2007), playing an artist who fakes his own death and re-enters society disguised as a long-lost twin sister. He later performed in Enron (2010) and Catch Me if You Can (2011), the latter of which earned him his second Tony. Butz then led Dead Accounts (2012) and Big Fish (2013) on Broadway. After Big Fish, the musical theatre giant mainly remained working on set (rather than onstage), starring in Netflix’s on Bloodline and PBS’ Mercy Street. But he returned to the stage to star in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of My Fair Lady as Alfred Doolittle and was nominated for yet another Tony. Most recently, Butz has starred in FX’s limited series Fosse/Verdon as Paddy Chayefsky, appeared the play Vladimir by Erika Sheffer at the New York City Center Stage I, and released a new solo EP, King of Hearts. Butz can currently be seen in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, where he plays ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (Timothée Chalamet plays a young Dylan).

Joel Grey, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The legendary performer who originated the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret—and won a Tony for the role—returned to the stage in Wicked to play the Wizard. Since then, Grey has returned to Broadway many times, performing in Anything Goes (2011) and making his Broadway directorial debut with Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart (2011). Grey’s direction of The Normal Heart earned him his fifth career Tony nomination. In 2015, the Drama League awarded Grey an award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre. A year later, Grey starred in The Cherry Orchard (2016), originating the role of Firs. Grey’s post-Wicked television and film credits include Warehouse 13, Grey’s Anatomy, and House. Most recently, Grey has made waves with his National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, which extended four times due to wild acclaim. In 2023, Grey received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.

Carole Shelley, Madame Morrible
With nearly 20 Broadway credits prior to her trip to Oz, Shelley was a legend long before Dorothy dropped in. She kept busy after Wicked, originating the role of Billy’s Grandma in Billy Elliot: The Musical in 2008, for which she was nominated for both a Tony and an Outer Critics Circle Awards. Her final Broadway performance was as Miss Shingle in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder in 2013. Shelley passed away August 31, 2018.

Michelle Federer, Nessarose
After understudying in several Off-Broadway productions, Federer made her Broadway principal debut in Wicked, creating the role of Nessarose (and meeting her husband, Norbert Leo Butz, along the way). After leaving the show in 2006, Federer understudied Julia Roberts in the play Three Days of Rain (2006). Federer then returned to Wicked to reprise her role as Nessarose for a limited engagement in 2009. Federer and Butz had a daughter together in 2011, taking Federer away from the stage for several years. But in 2023, she triumphantly returned to Broadway as the understudy for Sylvia, Marjorie, and Deirdre in Sandy Rustin's comedy The Cottage. We hope to see her back on the boards again soon!

Christopher Fitzgerald, Boq
Fitzgerald is one of the busiest actors on this list! Since Wicked catapulted him into the limelight, he has originated numerous iconic roles on Broadway, including Igor in Young Frankenstein (2007), for which he was nominated for a Tony. Next, he starred in the 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow as Og, earning a Drama Desk Award, and Tony nomination. Fitzgerald later performed in The Merchant of Venice (2010) alongside Al Pacino and Lily Rabe, and then in 2013 performed in Chicago, first as Amos Heart and then as Billy Flynn. Those engagements were followed up by An Act of God (2015) and Waitress (2016)—which he returned to again in September 2019 and September 2021—the latter for which he won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award, and yet another Tony nomination. Since the pandemic, Fitzgerald has starred as David in the gender-swapped Broadway revival of Company. He most recently appeared as Patsy, Guard 2, and the Mayor in the 2024 revival of Spamalot.

William Youmans, Doctor Dillamond
While you may not recognize Youmans’ face from production photos of Wicked, it’s there underneath Doctor Dillamond’s prosthetics! Youmans appeared in many Broadway shows following Wicked, starting with The Pirate Queen in 2007 where he originated the role of Sir Richard Bingham. Post Oz, Youmans performed in The Farnsworth Invention (2007) as well as the 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow, which also featured his Wicked castmate Christopher Fitzgerald. Youmans then replaced the role of George in Billy Elliot: The Musical, starting September 2011. After performing in Hands on a Hardbody (2013), Youmans was a member of the ensemble for Bright Star (2016), which won an Astaire Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show. He appeared in the most recent revival of Carousel as part of the ensemble, played Mr. Roscoe/Dr. Reynolds as part of the replacement company of To Kill a Mockingbird, and returned to the role of Doctor Dillamond for Wicked's 20th anniversary last year. As of December 2024, he is still decrying that "something bad is happening in Oz" at the Gershwin eight shows a week.

Manuel Herrera, Chistery
Wicked's dancing ensemble was vast, and they've certainly been putting in the work since 2003! Manuel Herrera, the musical's original flying monkey Chistery, was barely 20 years old when Wicked open on Broadway. In the years since Oz, he has performed on Broadway in Sweet Charity, Legally Blonde, West Side Story, and, most recently, the 2023 revival of Bob Fosse's Dancin'. Now a choreographer, Herrera is also half of Wicked's other power couple; like Butz and Federer, he met his wife Corinne McFadden Herrera in the original production!

Cristy Candler
The original Nessarose understudy, Candler took over the role following Federer's exit. She then left the show altogether to rock out was a swing and dance captain in Rock of Ages (2013). In recent years, she has pivoted away from performing and into health and wellness coaching, with a focus on yoga movement and sound healing.

Sean McCourt
McCourt worked his way up within the Wicked company, taking over the role of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz upon Grey's exit before graduating to the role of Doctor Dillamond following Youmans' departure. Elsewhere on Broadway, he starred as Von Hussler in the Disney Theatricals adaptation of Mary Poppins, and understudied Brian Stokes Mitchell in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His influence is certainly still felt at the Gershwin; McCourt was the co-creator of Behind the Emerald Curtain, a behind-the-scenes tour of Wicked that runs to this day.

Jan Neuberger
Following her work as Elphaba's midwife and the original Madame Morrible understudy, Neuberger originated the role of Grandma Who in the holiday favorite Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Having made her Broadway debut in 1974 as June to Angela Lansbury's Rose, Neuberger has more than earned her move down to the warmth of Florida, where she still acts on occasion in addition to her work as a teacher, coach, and writer.

Ioana Alfonso
Ensemble member Alfonso has had quite the career since leaving Oz! After dancing in the ensemble of 9 to 5, Alfonso primarily shifted her attentions to Broadway work behind the table, serving as the senior associate choreographer on 2014's Holler If Ya Hear Me, and the associate director on 2018's American Son, 2022's Topdog/Underdog, and 2023's Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch. In 2023, she hopped back onstage as a dancer in the revival of Bob Fosse's Dancin'. This season, she's back in the creative team as an associate director for the Denzel Washington-Jake Gyllenhaal revival of Othello in 2025.

Ben Cameron
Wicked may have been Ben Cameron's final Broadway credit, where he was an ensemble member, but he's hardly gone away! Now an event director and host, Cameron is the leader of The Broadway Cast, a theatre-themed radio talk show; the creator of the cabaret series Broadway Sessions at Green Room 42; and a cruise director for Atlantis Events, the world's largest gay travel company which produces all-gay cruise and resort vacations. Plus, you're sure to see him at a variety of community events, including BroadwayCon!

Kristy Cates
One of the original Elphaba understudies, Cates played the green girl in Chicago before hanging up her Ozian credentials to pursue other fantasy worlds, including Broadway runs in Finding Neverland (2015) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2017). Currently, Cates is the Creative Director of the New York Film Academy Musical Theatre School, as well as a devoted mother to her daughter.

Melissa Bell Chait
Chait was the original Glinda cover, but tragedy struck shortly after opening night when she suffered a minor stroke early in the show's run. While she performed in a reworked version of the Johnny Mercer musical Dream for Florida Repertory Theatre the following year, she has since disappeared from public view to focus on her health and marriage.

Marcus Choi
Choi has certainly kept busy since leaving Oz! Currently appearing on Broadway in the heartwarming new musical Maybe Happy Ending, Choi played George Washington on tour with Hamilton, and appeared on Broadway in Allegiance (2015) and Miss Saigon (2017), where he understudied Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer. 

Kristoffer Cusick
As one of the original Fiyero understudies, Cusick spent quite a bit of time traveling the country with Oz, creating the role in Chicago, reprising the role in Los Angeles, and even appearing in the Ugly Betty episode "Something Wicked This Way Comes"—whose plot revolved partly around two main characters attending the show on a date. Post Wicked, Cusick has appeared on Broadway in Hands on a Hardbody, First Date, and If/Then before transitioning behind the table, serving as a resident director for the Broadway run of School of Rock, and an associate director for the 2018 revival of The Boys in the Band.

Kathy Deitch
After her time in Oz, Deitch left Broadway behind, moving to the West Coast where she created the PlusThis! Show, a chat show speaking to the 67 percent of American women who are a size 14 or above. Running for 58 episodes, Deitch tempered her hosting work with plenty of screen acting gigs as well, appearing on Project: Phoenix, American Horror Story, Law and Order, and more. Fortunately, Deitch has recently returned to the New York theatrical fold, starring as The Unsinkable Molly Brown in the hit Off-Broadway comedy Titanique. 

Melissa Fahn
Fahn has had quite a career off stage as one of the most popular voice actors of her generation! She is perhaps best known as the voice of Gaz Membrane in the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim, Dendy in the Cartoon Network animated series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and as Hello Kitty in Hello Kitty's Paradise. She's also voiced many anime and video game characters, like Himawari Uzumaki from Boruto, Edward from Cowboy Bebop, Silver Wolf in Honkai: Star Rail, Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia and Rider and her various other incarnations in the Fate stay/night franchise.

Rhett G. George
George has been grooving up a storm since leaving Oz! On Broadway, he played Daddy Johann Sebastian Brubeck, the leader of the Rhythm of Life church in Sweet Charity (2005), understudied the role of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid (2008), and worked a wide range of roles on the musical Memphis (2009). George has also released 3 albums of original music: Something Better, The Music Will Save My Life, and These 4 Walls.

Kisha Howard
Howard only did one more Broadway show following Wicked. Like much of the Wicked ensemble, she found herself in the ensemble of choreographer Wayne Cilento's 2005 revival of Sweet Charity. Prior to Wicked, she appeared on Broadway in High Society, Annie Get Your Gun, and Aida, and was the associate artistic director of Awakening Theatre Dance Company, which performed internationally.

LJ Jellison
Since Wicked, Jellison has focused his boundless energy on his family. Now based out of Ohio, he most frequently interacts with the theatre community at Wicked original cast reunions, anniversary performances, and other cast crossovers.

Corinne McFadden
Now known as Corinne McFadden Herrera, this dancer met her perfect match in the form of Wicked's original Chistery, Manuel Herrera. McFadden has had quite the illustrious career. Since leaving the Oz stage, she's worked tirelessly backstage as one of the production's assistant choreographers, helping to maintain the shows integrity for two decades. Her bond with choreographer Wayne Cilento also led to her two other Broadway gigs: dancing in the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity, and serving as an associate director, musical stager, and choreographic reconstructor on 2023's Dancin'. 

Walter Winston O'Neil
O'Neil has been practically omnipresent throughout the regional circuit, appearing in over 250 professional stage productions worldwide. While his only other Broadway credit was in 2008's A Tale Of Two Cities, his non-Broadway theatre credits include Yoko Ono's New York Rock, the title role in Sweeney Todd, The Rocky Horror Show, The Who's Tommy, Western Star, and international tours of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Golden Musicals Of Broadway.

Andrew Palermo
Since Wicked, Palermo has transitioned to the other side of the table, working extensively as a choreographer. A cofounder of dre.dance company alongside Taye Diggs, Palermo is a professor of drama at University of California–Irvine, and a leader in the field of movement therapy for autistic children. In 2015, he returned to Broadway as the choreographer behind Allegiance, and in 2018, with support from the US Department of State, he was commissioned by Moscow State Ballet Theatre to create an evening-length work.

Andy Pellick
Pellick is a familiar face to NYCDA fans! Outside of Wicked, Pellick performed in Tarzan (2006), La Cage Aux Folles (2004), and Dance of the Vampires (2002). On screen, he appeared in The Polar Express, Show Business and Winter’s Tale. 

Michael Seelbach
Seelbach remained with Wicked for quite some time, playing Fiyero in the Chicago production before withdrawing from the industry. He is a member of Broadway Inspirational Voices, has staged managed several productions at ACT of Connecticut, and is now married to Wicked producer David Stone.

Lorna Ventura
Since Wicked, Ventura has transitioned to work behind the table, serving as an associate choreographer for the Broadway run of All Shook Up (2005). Her original work has been showcased at the Ailey CitiGroup Legros Cultural Arts Showcase. Most recently, she was chosen for an Artist’s Residency with Frantic Assembly in London, where she premiered a new work.

Derrick Williams
Don't get it twisted, this Williams isn't the NBA player! While Williams was one of the most popular original Fiyero understudies, since Oz, he has been the General in The Book of Mormon since 2014, holding the role for more than a decade! Having completed his tenure earlier this year, we can't wait to see what's on the horizon now that he is a free agent!

Kristen Leigh Gorski 
Since opening, the multitalented Gorski has been a pivotal part of Wicked's evolution, serving as a swing and an assistant dance captain on Broadway and as an assistant choreographer for the Emerald City tour. These days, she is the co-director of the NUVO Dance Convention, a dance workshop and competition that tours to 31 cities in the United States and Canada each season.

Mark Myars
Myars is one of the busiest Broadway babies in the bunch! After being a swing in Wicked, he was a super swing for West Side Story, 9 to 5, and Come Fly Away. But since 2014, he has been a super active choreographer, contributing to If/Then, War Paint, SpongeBob SquarePants, My Fair Lady, The Cher Show, Dear Evan Hansen, and the currently running Broadway production of Death Becomes Her, for which Myars is both resident director and choreographer. 

Eden Espinosa
Last, but certainly not least!

Surely you know where Espinosa has been. Since her time as the original Elphaba standby, Espinosa has become an industry darling. After playing Elphaba eight times a week in Los Angeles and San Francisco, she starred in Brooklyn on Broadway and as  the closing Maureen Johnson in RENT (2008). She then played a variety of roles regionally and Off-Broadway, including the national tour of Falsettos, The Gardens of Anuncia, Merrily We Roll Along, and Rain. Most recently, she played the titular role in Lempicka, where her performance as Tamara de Lempicka earned her a Tony nomination. She also has a solo album, Look Around.