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Vereen, McClanahan, and Hilty Fly Into Oz May 31

By: Mar. 16, 2005
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Joining the cast of Broadway's Wicked on May 31, will be Ben Vereen (as the Wizard, reported here first in July 2004), Golden Girl Rue McClanahan as Madame Morrible, and Megan Hilty gets the bump up to star as Glinda.

George Hearn, original cast member Carole Shelley and Jennifer Laura Thompson give their final performances on May 29.

Ben Vereen last appeared on Broadway in the straight comedy play, I'm Not Rappaport. Previously to that, he appeared in the Fosse review, a performance which was taped for DVD, and also appeared in Jelly's Last Jam, Sweet Charity, Hair, Grind, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Pippin. It was the latter of those shows, Pippin, also written by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz for which he won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in the Musical in 1973. His last New York stage appearance was even more recent, as "The Ghost of Christmas Present" in the Madison Square Garden production of A Christmas Carol.

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Rue McClanahan, whose Emmy-winning TV appearances include starring in Maude and The Golden Girls was last on Broadway in The Women in 2001-2002 opposite Kristen Johnston, Jennifer Tilly, Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Coolidge. Previous Broadway appearances include California Suite, Sticks and Bones, Father's Day, and Jimmy Shine.

Megan Hilty, who made her Broadway debut in Wicked, where she is currently the standby for Glinda is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon's theatre program, she recently appeared in the new musical Café Puttanesca at Pittsburgh's City Theatre. Other regional credits include Suds at Oregon Cabaret Theatre.




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