WICKED, the West End and Broadway musical sensation that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to welcome Nicholas McLean to the role of ‘Boq’ from Monday 20 January 2020.
Nicholas McLean is currently playing ‘Gary Coleman’ in the UK Tour of Avenue Q. He trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and made his West End debut in The Book of Mormon.
From Monday 11 November 2019 to Saturday 18 January 2020, George Ure will return to play Boq, a role he previously played to great acclaim in the West End and on the original UK & Ireland Tour.
Idriss Kargbo plays the final performance of his limited return engagement as Boq on 9 November 2019.
Now in its landmark 14th year, WICKED has already been seen by an incredible 10 million people in London alone and is now the 9thlongest running West End musical of all time (and the 13th longest running West End show of all time). Winner of over 100 major awards, including three Tony Awards on Broadway and two Olivier Awards and ten theatregoer-voted WhatsOnStage Awards (including three for ‘Best West End Show’) in the UK, the classic musical remains “one of the biggest hits of our age” (The Observer).
Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED imagines an ingenious backstory and future possibilities to the lives ofL. 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 currently stars Nikki Bentley (Elphaba), Helen Woolf (Glinda), Alistair Brammer (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Natasha Ferguson* (Nessarose), Idriss Kargbo** (Boq), Laura Pick (Standby for Elphaba) and Lisa-Anne Wood (Standby for Glinda). *Maternity cover for Carina Gillespie. **Final performance 9 November 2019.
WICKED has music and lyrics by multi Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell; Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted and, for DreamWorks Animation, The Prince of Egypt) and is based on the novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.
WICKED is produced around the world by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK) Michael McCabe.
Through its FOR GOOD programme and other charitable endeavours, WICKED is proud to support the remarkable work of the following UK charities: Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA); the National Literacy Trust and the Woodland Trust. Funds raised for the Woodland Trust have already enabled the planting of over 53,000 new trees at the Heartwood Forest in Hertfordshire. For more information visit: www.WickedForGood.co.uk
The annual WICKED YOUNG WRITER AWARDS were created by the producers of WICKED, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and with the support of Michael Morpurgo and Patron HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, to encourage and recognise excellence in writing and creativity, and help develop literacy and writing talent, in young people aged between 5 and 25. Celebrating 10 years of these “prestigious awards” (The Times) in 2020, the Head Judge is How To Train Your Dragon author and Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell. Further information:www.WickedYoungWriterAwards.com
