Rent’s Colin Hanlon Goes on Tour with Wicked

Colin Hanlon is set to become the newest cast member of Wicked as it makes its first tour of North America beginning in Appleton, WI on February 15. Hanlon, who will play Fiyero, has been a cast member of Rent on Broadway and I Love You Because on off-Broadway.

Other members of the cast include Chandra Lee Schwartz, who plays Glinda; Jackie Burns, who plays Elphaba; Mark Jacoby, who plays the Wizard; and Randy Danson, who plays Madame Morrible.

Also listed on the cast roster is Justin Brill, who plays Boq; Paul Slade Smith, who plays Dr. Dillamond; Stefanie Brown, who plays Nessarose; and Mariand Torres who is the understudy for Elphaba. Emily Ferranti, Rick Desloge, Luis Augusto Figueraoa, Melanie Field, Napoleon W. Gladney, Dominic Giudici, Spencer Jones, Brenda Hamilton, Allison Leo, Renee Lawless-Orsini, Marissa Lupp, Philip Dean Lightstone, Sterling Masters, Corey Mach, Christopher Russo, Kevin McMahon, Adea Michelle Sessoms, Adam Sanford, Brandon Tyler, Carla Stickler, Bud Weber, Lauren Ashley Zakrin, and Jessica Walker round out the cast.

The play is adapted from a novel by Gregory Maguire that debunked all popular Oz myths. Wicked discusses the history of Elphaba and Glinda, the two major witches seen in Oz. The two girls meet each other at Shiz, which is a school for sorcery. Glinda is very well-liked and Elphaba has green skin. Due to a mix-up, they end up rooming together. They do not like each other at first, but start to realize the good in each other. They keep running into each other throughout their life journeys and even come in contact with the Wizard. Ultimately, they part ways because of their differing views on life.

Schwartz composed the score for Wicked, Holzman wrote the book, Joe Mantello directs the play, and Wayne Cilento is in charge of staging. Eugene Lee designed the set, Susan Hilferty designed the costumes, Kenneth Posner designed the lighting, Tony Meola designed the sound, Elaine J. McCarthy is responsible for the projections, Tom Watson is responsible for the hair and wigs, Stephen Oremus is responsible for musical arrangements, William David Brohn is in charge of the orchestrations, and James Lynn Abbott is responsible for the choreography.
Right now, Wicked is playing at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center until February 20.

All photos made available via creative commons licensing courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.