Lenny Wolpe Will Be Wicked's New Broadway Wizard

Lenny Wolpe will assume the role of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the Broadway musical Wicked beginning July 10. David Garrison will play his final performance as the Wizard on July 8 at the Gershwin Theatre.

Wolpe, who created the role of the Wizard in the original L.A. workshops of Wicked, most recently played Feldzieg in the original cast of The Drowsy Chaperone. Other Broadway credits include The Sound of Music, Copperfield, Into the Light and Onward Victoria. Off-Broadway credits include Mayor, Brownstone, Company and The Wonder Years. National tour credits include Little Shop of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and South Pacific, and regional work includes the Paper Mill Playhouse productions of The Baker's Wife, Gypsy and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and six productions of Fiddler on the Roof.

The Broadway company of Wicked currently includes Julia Murney as Elphaba, Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Jayne Houdyshell as Madame Morrible, Sebastian Arcelus as Fiyero, Cristy Candler as Nessarose, Logan Lipton as Boq and Steven Skybell as Dr. Dillamond.

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.