Butz Returns to Wicked Sooner Than Expected

Fans of Taye Diggs have a couple less chances to catch him in Wicked than previously expected. While the actor will still play his final show on Sunday, January 18, he is not playing romantic lead Fiyero at the Friday, January 16 evening performance or Saturday, January 17 matinee. Instead those performances will feature original star Norbert Leo Butz, returning early from his medical leave for two special appearances.

Butz has been out of the show since November 23 with a back injury. Understudy Kristoffer Cusick played Fiyero for the next month, but then, on December 23, Diggs, a film star and husband of Wicked's leading lady Idina Menzel, began his limited engagement in the role. He has not missed any performances since his stint began and is expected to be onstage at the Gershwin Theater Saturday night and Sunday matinee.

In addition to Menzel, Wicked continues to star Kristin Chenoweth, Carole Shelley, Joel Grey, Michelle Federer, William Youmans and Christopher Fitzgerald. Butz officially rejoins the cast on Tuesday, January 20.