Cast News: Wicked

Cast News: Wicked

11-05-23

The producers of Wicked have confirmed that the previously announced Laura Pick (Elphaba) will be joined by Carl Man as ‘Fiyero’, reuniting these two former Wicked West End cast members. Further casting to be announced. Most tickets are now released, with Manchester Palace Theatre’s going on general sale from Friday 19 May at 10am.

Carl Man said: “When I first got to play ‘Fiyero’ in the West End, it was opposite Laura Pick, so I’m incredibly excited to be reuniting with Laura, and with this phenomenal show. To be given the opportunity to play Fiyero at ten of the UK & Ireland’s most prestigious theatres is a great honour and I can’t wait to get started.”

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Carl Man (Fiyero) most recently appeared in Max Martin and David West Read’s & Juliet, playing the role of ‘Romeo’ more than 100 times at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. He spent three years in Wicked in the West End, playing ‘Fiyero’ on many occasions. His many other credits include ‘Rory’ in the new musical Proud (Turbine Theatre); ‘Nintendo’ in Starlight Express (The Other Palace Theatre); Tiger Bay The Musical (Wales Millennium Centre); We Will Rock You for Royal Caribbean Cruises; and The Who’s Tommy (The Arts Centre of Coastal Carolina). He made his musical theatre professional debut playing ‘Aladdin’ in Disney’s Aladdin at Disneyland’s Hyperion Theatre in California.

Carl Man

Laura Pick (Elphaba) first joined the West End production of Wicked in 2017 and played the leading role of ‘Elphaba’ at more than 350 performances to huge acclaim. Most recently, Laura wowed viewers with a sensational performance of ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked on BBC1’s Big Night of Musicals.

Laura Pick: Production shots by Mark Senior

The UK & Ireland tour of Wicked opens this Christmas at the Edinburgh Playhouse and continues to Bristol, Birmingham, Bradford, Southampton, Liverpool, Dublin, Sunderland, Cardiff, and Manchester. For full tour details visit the official site HERE.

It takes over 100 people on-stage and behind the scenes to deliver each performance of this award-winning touring production. Featuring all the celebrated spectacle, magic, technical wizardry, and more than 350 stunning costumes, this production has been acclaimed, in a five-star review, as “every bit the West End show” (The Reviews Hub).

The West End and Broadway musical phenomenon, that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, continues its open-ended run at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre, where it is already the 12th longest running production in West End history.

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s musical, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum’s beloved characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reveals the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked has now been seen by almost 65 million people worldwide, and 2023 marks the 20th Anniversary of its Broadway premiere. Productions continue on Broadway, in the West End, and on tour across North America. This year, Wicked also returns to Sydney, Australia and Tokyo, Japan.

Wicked has won over 100 major international awards including three Tony Awards; six Drama Desk Awards; two Olivier Audience Awards (BBC Radio 2 Audience Award, ITV’s This Morning Audience Award); eleven WhatsOnStage Awards (including three for ‘Best West End Show’); six Australian Helpmann Awards, and a Grammy.

Wicked features songs by multi-Oscar and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted). It is based on the multimillion-copy best-selling novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire and written by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Winnie Holzman (creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman are currently collaborating on the two-part Universal Pictures film version of Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum.

Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK & Ireland) Michael McCabe.