Tom McGowan joins the cast of Wicked from 21 Sep

The West End production of Wicked, which is currently running at the Apollo Victoria Theatre where it is booking to 30 April 2016, has announced that Tom McGowan will make his West End debut in the role of 'The Wizard' from 21 September 2015.

The American actor will remain in the show for a limited season until Saturday 12 March 2016.

Tom McGowan has previously played the role in the USA, including three separate engagements at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include 'Bessie' in Harvey Fierstein's 'Casa Valentina'; 'Amos Hart' in 'Chicago'; and the original production of David Hirson's 'La Bête' which saw him nominated for the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in a Play. His TV credits include recurring roles as 'Kenny Daly' in Frasier, 'Bernie' in Everybody Loves Raymond and 'Joe' in The War at Home.

He will join the full cast, which from 21 September 2015 will also include: Emma Hatton (Elphaba), Savannah Stevenson (Glinda), Oliver Savile (Fiyero), Liza Sadovy (Madame Morrible), Tom McGowan (The Wizard), Sean Kearns (Doctor Dillamond), Daniel Hope (Boq), Katie Rowley Jones (Nessarose), Natalie Andreou (Standby for Elphaba) and Carina Gillespie (Standby for Glinda).

The ensemble includes: Chloe Ames, Nicholas Collier, Laura Emmitt, Kerry Enright, Oliver Evans, Freya Field, Joseph Fletcher, Rosie Fletcher, David Gale, Sergio Giacomelli, Sheila Grant, Chester Hayes, Lauren James Ray, Aaron Jenkins, Jasmine Kerr, Natalie McQueen, Billy Mitchell, Scott Monello, Kane Oliver Parry, Steph Parry, Julienne Schembri, Paulo Teixeira, Joe Toland, Hannah Toy, Russell Walker and Helen Woolf.

The show opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre 27 Sep 2006, following previews from 07 Sep, and has since been seen by 7 million people. Wicked is now the 10th longest-running show in the West End.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman.

It is directed by Joe Mantello, scenic design by Eugene Lee, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Kenneth Posner, sound by Tony Meola, orchestrations by William David Brohn, musical staging by Wayne Cilento.

Synopsis: "Two girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, feisty and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very, very popular. Wicked is the story of these two unlikely friends and how they end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch."

Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, David Stone, and Michael McCabe.