Patty Duke to Join WICKED in San Francisco Replacing Carol Kane

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that TV, film and Broadway star Patty Duke will be joining the company of WICKED San Francisco, replacing Carole Kane as Madame Morrible after her final show on March 22. Kane was only in San Francisco on an 8 week contract.

Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an Academy Award-, three-time Emmy Award- and two-time Golden Globe Award-winning American actress of stage and film. Duke is well known for her performance as Helen Keller (1959-1961) in the Broadway play, "The Miracle Worker" - a role for which she later won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (1962) and an Emmy for the TV movie version (1979).

Duke had a successful singing career, garnering several Top 40 hits such as "Don't Just Stand There" in 1965, and "Dona Dona" in 1968. She performed both songs on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 2002, Duke returned to New York to appear as Aunt Eller in a revival of Oklahoma!.

This production is a significant homecoming for WICKED, which premiered in San Francisco before casting its spell on Broadway, winning 20 major awards, including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

Teal Wicks plays the role of Elphaba. Born and raised in Sacramento, the California native made her WICKED debut earlier this year playing the role of Elphaba in the Los Angeles production.

Kendra Kassebaum, is Glinda, and comes directly from playing the role in the Broadway production. Kendra received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for her portrayal of Glinda in the North American Tour of WICKED.

David Garrison playing The Wizard is best known for TV's "Married With Children," Broadway's Titanic and A Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine, for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

Tickets for WICKED are now on sale for this open-ended engagement and range in price from $30 to $99. Tickets can be purchased online at shnsf.com and ticketmaster.com/wicked, through Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone (415) 512-7770 and (800) 982-2787, at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers and at the Orpheum Theatre Box Office (1192 Market at 8th St., Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm). Premium packages are also available for all performances. Groups of 20 or more may order now by calling Group Sales at (415) 551-2020.

For more information about WICKED at the Orpheum Theatre, please visit www.wickedthemusical.com/sf or www.shnsf.com.

For information about WICKEDworld-wide, please visit www.wicked.com.