Wicked Cast: Supporting Characters

The Broadway musical Wicked comes from Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of two young girls who later become Glinda The Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the West. The novel has 38 speaking characters. The musical focuses its attention on eight major characters: Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Madame Morrible, the Wizard of Oz, Nessarose, Boq and Dr. Dillamond.

The character Fiyero is currently played by Kevern Kern. Norbert Leo Butz was the original Fiyero, performing in the role for a year and also appears on the cast album. Previous Fiyeros also include Sebastian Arcelus, Derrick Williams, Aaron Tveit and David Burnham.

Fiyero, is a handsome Winkie prince who is a fellow student as well as love interest of Elphaba and Glinda. The Winkies are from a region of Oz. Fiyero, is a carefree college student who loves to party. His transformation begins as his romantic interest begins to shift.

Madame Morrible, headmistress at Shiz University, is currently played by Rondi Reed on Broadway. The original Madame Morrible was Carole Shelley who played the role from 2003-2005 and again in 2007-2008. Previous Madame Morribles include Miriam Margoyles, Jayne Houdyshell, Carol Kane, and Rue McClanahan.

In the musical, Madame Morrible has fairly limited sorcery talents and doesn’t have as much impact on the fate of the witches as much as she does in Maguire’s novel. She pursues connections with the head of Oz and her misusing of her power leads to her undoing.

The character of the Wizard of Oz is currently played by P.J. Benjamin. Joel Grey played the original Wizard and also performs on the cast album. Other Wizards include Ben Vereen, David Garrison and Lenny Wolpe.

Just like in the movie classic, the Wizard of Oz is basically an old huckster who blew into Oz from a carnival in a hot air balloon and becomes a false-faced leader. However, in Maguire’s novel as well as the musical, there is a twist that involves the relationship between Elphaba and the Wizard.

The character Nessarose, is Elphaba’s invalid sister. She is currently played by Crysti Candler. The original Nessarose was Michelle Federer and Brynn O’Malley has also played the role.

Nessarose Thropp is the sister of Elphaba. Novelist Maguire named her after Vanessa, the sister of Virginia Woolf. In the novel she was born armless and crippled. On stage she is in a wheelchair but has arms.

The character Boq is played by Alex Brightman. The original Boq was Christopher Fizgerald. Logan Lipton has played the character on the national tour.

Boq is a very tall Munchkin who has his eyes on Galinda but ends up hooking up with Nessarose.

The character Dr. Dillamond, a Shiz University Professor, is currently played by Timothy Britten Parker. Other Dr. Dillamonds include the original William Youmnans as well as Sean McCourt and Steven Skybell.

Dr. Dillamond is one of the professors at Shiz University and is a talking Goat. He is befriended by Elphaba.

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