Annaleigh Ashford Heading to Chicago Company of Wicked

Annaleigh Ashford, who currently plays bubbly blonde witch Glinda in Broadway's wildly popular Wicked, will be joining the Chicago production of the musical at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre starting June 3. She replaces Chicago company ensemble member and Glinda understudy Kate Fahrner, who is playing the role through June 1. Ashford will play her final performance at the Gershwin Theatre on May 11; her replacement in the Broadway production is expected to be announced shortly.

Ashford will round out a Chicago cast that includes Dee Roscioli as Elphaba, Barbara Robertson as Madame Morrible, Gene Weygandt as The Wizard, Heider Kettenring as Nessarose, David deVries as Dr. Dillamond, Stanton Nash as Boq and Michael Seelback as Fiyero. The open-ended Chicago production opened at the Oriental in July of 2005, and originally starred Ana Gasteyer as Elphaba and Kate Reinders as Glinda.

Ashford understudied the role of Glinda during the national tour of Wicked in 2006 before being tapped to originate sorority sister Margot in Legally Blonde in 2007 her Broadway debut. She left Blonde later that year to assume the role of Glinda at the Gershwin.

Wicked, written by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman and based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, is the longest running show in Chicago theater history. It currently plays in six major cities around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.