GINA BECK & MATT WILLIS To Join West End Cast Of WICKED As Glinda and Fiyero

GINA BECK AND MATT WILLIS TO JOIN WEST END HIT MUSICAL 

WICKED FROM MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2011 

DESMOND BARRIT RETURNS TO PLAY ‘THE WIZARD’

WICKED, the smash hit musical that tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to announce that Gina Beck and Matt Willis will join the cast on Monday 12 December 2011 to star as Glinda and Fiyero respectively. Desmond Barrit is returning to the show to play The Wizard. They will be joined by Lillie Flynn (Nessarose), Christopher Howell (Doctor Dillamond) and Adam Pettigrew (Boq).

Gina Beck (Glinda) recently finished a two-year season starring as ‘Christine Daaé’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera <http://www.ginabeck.co.uk/gallery.php>  at London's Her Majesty’s Theatre. She made her West End debut in 2006 as ‘Cosette’ in Les Misérables at the Queens Theatre and recently performed in the 25th Anniversary Concert at The O2. Gina is currently starring in The Belle’s Stratagem at the Southwark Playhouse. 

Matt Willis (Fiyero) first shot to fame as a member of the chart-topping, BRIT award-winning band Busted. In 2006 he won the popular ITV show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!. He has subsequently made countless TV appearances, many alongside his wife, presenter Emma Willis. Having originally trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Matt returned to his theatre roots in 2010, to make his West End debut as ‘Nick Hurley’ in Flashdance. He most recently starred as ‘Chuck’ in the UK national tour of Footloose.

Desmond Barrit (The Wizard) originally starred in WICKED in 2008/09. The Olivier award-winning RSC and National Theatre actor has just finished playing ‘Falstaff’, directed by Sir Peter Hall, to great acclaim.

Gina Beck (Glinda), Matt Willis (Fiyero), Desmond Barrit (The Wizard), Lillie Flynn (Nessarose), Christopher Howell (Doctor Dillamond) and Adam Pettigrew (Boq) will join current WICKED stars
Rachel Tucker (Elphaba) and Julie Legrand (Madame Morrible) from Monday 12 December 2011.

WICKED recently played its 2000th performance and will celebrate its landmark 5th birthday on Tuesday 27 September 2011. The “hugely popular musical” (The Times) has now been seen by almost 4 million people since its West End premiere in 2006.

Acclaimed as “the hit musical with brains, heart and courage” (The Sunday Telegraph), WICKED has won multiple awards including the 2010 Olivier Award for Most Popular Show and the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best West End Show in both 2011 and 2010.

PERFORMANCES

Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LG

Online booking, video trailer and information: www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

Box Office and 24 Hour Credit Card Bookings:

Ticketmaster 0844 826 8000  / www.Ticketmaster.co.uk

 (up to £2.50 per ticket service charge and £2.75 processing fee per transaction).

No booking fee or processing charges for tickets booked in person at the Box Office.

Group Sales (10 tickets or more): Ticketmaster 0844 847 2334

Performance Times:

Monday-Saturday 7.30pm

Matinees Wednesday & Saturday 2.30pm

Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes including a 20 minute interval.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations (2-5 June 2012): performances as usual.

London 2012 Olympic Games (27 July-12 August 2012) and Paralympic Games (29 August-9 September 2012): performances as normal except extra matinee on Thursday 26 July at 2.30pm and no performance on Friday 27 July 2012.

Christmas matinees: 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 31 December 2011, all at 2.30pm.

Half-term matinees:  24 February, 27 October 2011, 16 February, 25 October 2012, all at 2.30pm.

Ticket prices:
Monday - Friday and Wednesday & Saturday Matinees:
£15.00, £22.50, £27.50, £32.50, £42.50, £52.50 and £62.50
Saturday Evenings:*
£15.00, £22.50, £27.50, £32.50, £42.50, £52.50 and £65.00*Also all performances w/c 26 December 2011.

Day Seats: £27.50 – twenty-four front row Stalls released daily at 10.00am at the Box Office.

Students: Best available seats £27.50 from 10.00am at Monday-Friday 7.30pm and Wednesday & Saturday 2.30pm at the Box Office with student ID. Subject to availability. One ticket per ID.

Standby Concessions: Best available seats £27.50 from 6pm at Monday-Friday 7.30pm performances and from 12 noon at Wednesday and Saturday 2.30pm performances at the Box Office for Senior Citizens, Jobseekers, Equity, BECTU and MU members and registered disabled. Subject to availability. One ticket per ID.

Gregory Maguire’s Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is published in the UK by Headline Review

GRAMMY® award-winning Original Broadway Cast recording on Decca Broadway