Carole Shelley Heading Back to Broadway in Wicked

Carole Shelley, who created the role of Madame Morrible on Broadway in Wicked, will return to the hit musical, beginning August 28. The role is being played until August 26 by Jayne Houdyshell, who will appear in Manhattan Theatre Club's off-Broadway production of The Receptionist in October.

Shelley joins a cast which currently includes Julia Murney as Elphaba, Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Lenny Wolpe as The Wizard, 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.

Shelley won a Tony Award for her performance in The Elephant Man and has appeared on Broadway in Cabaret, Show Boat, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, The Odd Couple, The Miser, Stepping Out, Noises Off, Hay Fever, The Norman Conquests, Absurd Person Singular andLoot. Off-Broadway credits include The Film Society, London Suite, The Destiny of Me, Richard II, Later Life, Cabaret Verboten, What the Butler Saw, Little Murders, Twelve Dreams and Tartuffe. She starred in Lettice and Lovage in the West End.