Kerry Ellis and Jayne Houdyshell assume the roles of 'Elphaba' and 'Madame Morrible,' respectively

As previously announced, Kerry Ellis makes her Broadway debut this evening (17 Jun 2008) starring as 'Elphaba' in the 2004 Tony Award winning musical Wicked. She will be joined on stage by Jayne Houdyshell who returns to the role of 'Madame Morrible.'

Ellis recently starred as 'Elphaba' in the London production of Wicked playing at London�s Apollo Victoria Theatre. Ellis played her final performance in London on 7 Jun 2008, and will return to the show on 1 Dec 2008.

Kerry Ellis was the first British actor to play 'Elphaba,' receiving rave reviews. Her Theatre credits include playing Fantine in London's 'Les Miserable,' Meatload in 'We Will Rock you.' Ellis understudied Martine McCutcheon in the role of 'Eliza Doolittle' in London's National Theatre production of 'My Fair Lady' - allowing her many opportunities to play the part due to McCutcheon missing many performances. Ellis also played the role Ellen in the UK National tour production of 'Miss Saigon'.

Jayne Houdyshell first played the role of 'Madam Morrile' on Broadway from 14 Nov 2006 - 26 Aug 2007. Houdyshell was co-starring in the Lincoln Center's Off-Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's comedy 'The New Century' which closed on 8 Jun 2008. She recently starred in Adam Bock's off-Broadway comedy 'The Receptionist' (opposite Ms. Kassebaum). The actress made her Broadway debut when she played 'Ann' in Lisa Kron's comedy 'Well' (2006) for which she was nominated for the 2006 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Wicked opened at the Gershwin Theatre on the 30 Oct 2003, following previews from 8 Oct 2003, and is currently booking through to 21 Dec 2008.

Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. Wicked tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Wicked now features Kerry Ellis (Elphaba), Kendra Kassebaum (Glinda), Lenny Wolpe (The Wizard), Jayne Houdyshell (Madame Morrible), David Burnham (Fiyero), Cristy Candler (Nessarose), Steven Skybell (Doctor Dillamond, Witch�s Father) and Logan Lipton (Boq).
Note: Aaron Tveit assumes the role of Fiyero from 24 Jun 2008)

Wicked has music & lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire.

The musical is directed by Joe Mantello, with choreography by James Lynn Abbott, scene design by Eugene Lee, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Kenneth Posner and sound by Tony Meola.