Tony winner Michele Pawk joins the cast of Wicked—which celebrated its 19th anniversary on Broadway October 30—beginning December 12 at the Gershwin Theatre.
Pawk, who won her Tony for her performance in Hollywood Arms, succeeds Sharon Sachs as Madame Morrible. Sachs played her final performance December 11. Pawk has also been seen on Broadway in Beautiful, Hairspray, Losing Louie, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Seussical, Cabaret, Triumph of Love, Crazy for You, and Mail.
The Broadway cast is led by Talia Suskauer as Elphaba, Brittney Johnson as Glinda, Tony winner Cleavant Derricks as The Wizard, James D. Gish as Fiyero, Michael Wartella as Boq, Tony nominee Clifton Davis as Doctor Dillamond, and Mikayla Renfrow as Nessarose.
Wicked began previews on Broadway October 8, 2003, with an official opening October 30. The original cast included Tony winners Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as, respectively, the green-faced, misunderstood Elphaba and the curly-locked Glinda. Wicked has subsequently 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.
Wicked won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Menzel), Best Costume Design (Hilferty), and Best Scenic Design (Lee).
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.
