Block and Kassebaum to Headline Wicked Tour Cast

Stephanie J. Block will star as Elphaba and Kendra Kassebaum will star as Glinda in the upcoming North American tour of Wicked. The production will also feature Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, David Garrison as The Wizard, Derrick Williams as Fiyero, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond and Logan Lipton as Boq.

Block performed the role of Elphaba during the early stages of Wicked's development and was the production's original standby, going on during the San Francisco tryout. She left Wicked before it hit Broadway in order to take the part of Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz. Her other theatrical credits include regional productions of Love A Piano, Fiddler on the Roof, James Joyce's The Dead, The Grass Harp and Funny Girl.

Kassebaum is currently appearing in the ensemble of Rent and has also appeared on Broadway in Assassins. She has also been featured in tours of Grease and A Chorus Line. Her regional theater credits include Red Herring, A Little Night Music, Secret Garden, Tommy and Adventures in Love.

Kane recently appeared on the Great White Way in Sly Fox. Her other Broadway credits include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds and Ring Around the Bathtub. Kane is probably best known for her Emmy-winning performance on TV's Taxi. She has also appeared in a wide variety of films, including Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail, Dog Day Afternoon, Hester Street for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, Annie Hall, The World's Greatest Lover, The Muppet Movie, Norman Loves Rose, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Ishtar, The Lemon Sisters, The Princess Bride, My Blue Heaven, Scrooged, The Lemon Sisters, Addams Family Values and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Garrison was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and has also appeared on Broadway in A History of the American Film, Titanic, The Pirates of Penzance and Bells are Ringing. His off-Broadway credits include Snoopy, It's Only a Play, The Family of Mann, Eight Days Backwards, I Do! I Do! and the Encores! production of Strike Up the Band. Garrison is also for playing Steve Rhoades on TV's Married With Children.

Williams currently understudies the role of Fiyero and serves as a swing in Wicked. His other Broadway credits include Aida and Swing. He has also appeared on national tours of Smokey Joe's Cafe and Aida and regional productions of Five Guys Named Moe, Jesus Christ Superstar and Once on This Island.

Green, best known for her role as Libby Chessler in the television show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, appeared in the musical Bare in Los Angeles and New York. Her other theatrical credits include Romeo and Juliet, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, The Secret Garden and the Reprise! staging of Babes in Arms.

An original Rent cast member, Parker has also appeared on Broadway in The Innocents, Runaways and The Visit. He was a cofounder of Naked Angels and still serves as a member of the theater company. He recently appeared in The Least We Can Do as part of Naked Angels' The Issues Project: Democracy series.

Lipton appeared on the New York stage in Cupid and Psyche at the John Houseman Studio Theater. He is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan's Musical Theatre Program. His credits at the school include Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins, Of Thee I Sing, Julius Caesar, The Visit and Casino Paradise. Among his other theatrical credits are Hello Dolly!, Oklahoma!, Ragtime, Floyd Collins, An Ideal Husband, Gypsy and Cabaret. Lipton made his feature film debut in 1999 with The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island, in which he co-starred with Ernest Borgnine.

Wicked, based on the Gregory Maguire book of the same name, centers on two girls: the misunderstood Elphaba, who was born with emerald-green skin, and the seemingly perfect Glinda. The show tells the story of their remarkable odyssey and how these two unlikely friends grew to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. Wicked features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman.

The musical, directed by Joe Mantello, opened on Broadway at the Gerswhin Theatre on October 30, 2003 with Idina Menzel who went on to win a Tony for her performance as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. The North American tour will begin with a seven-week engagement in Toronto, where performances are scheduled to begin at the Canon Theatre on March 8.