Wicked: Ana Gasteyer to play Elphaba

Ana Gasteyer is to play the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked from the 10 Oct 2006 for a limited thirteen-week run. Ms Gasteyer will assume the role from Eden Espinosa who currently plays Glinda.

Ana Gasteyer starred as Elphaba when the Wicked production of Chicago opened at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in July 2005, for which she was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award.

Ms Gasteyer's previous Broadway credits include: The Threepenny Opera (Mrs. Peachum) and The Rocky Horror Show. TV credits include Frasier, Just Shoot Me, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Seinfeld, and Law & Order.

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.

Eden Espinosa (Elphaba) and Kate Reinders (Glinda) currently star with David Garrison (the Wizard) and Carol Kane (Madame Morrible) in Wicked on Broadway, with Derrick Williams (Fiyero), Jenna Leigh Green (Nessarose), Logan Lipton (Boq) and Steven Skybell (Dr. Dillamond).

The musical opened at the Gershwin Theatre on the 3 Oct 2003 and is currently booking to the 1 Jul 2007.

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.