Dee Roscioli Assumes Role of Elphaba

Dee Roscioli joined the Broadway production of Wicked on July 21 at the Gershwin Theatre after previously starring in Chicago’s production of the Winnie Holzman-Stephen Schwartz musical.

Roscioli’s Broadway debut is in the role of Elphaba where she has joined a cast that also includes Alli Mauzey (Glinda), P.J. Benjamin (The Wizard), Tony Award winning actress Rondi Reed (Madame Morrible), Kevin Kern (Fiyero), Cristy Candler (Nessarose), Alex Brightman (Boq) and Timothy Britten Parker (Dr. Dillamond).

In the nationwide tour of Cats Dee Roscioli played Grizabella and has also appeared in workshops of Behind the Limelight and Dangerous Beauty.

Wicked, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, turns all the Oz myths inside out. It explores the young lives of Oz witches Elphaba and Glinda. The two first meet each other at the school Shiz, where they are both aspiring to learn sorcery. Glinda is wildly popular whereas Elphaba is green. Following a misunderstanding, the two girls end up as roommates. Initially they mutually despise each other, but eventually end up learning about each other. Their lives continue to intersect in several ways: they share the same love, both wind up in the Emerald City, and both have encounters with the great Wizard himself. They eventually end up on quite different life paths due to their individual life choices and convictions.

Wicked’s book is written by Winnie Holtzman, scored by Stephen Schwartz, musical staging from Wayne Cilento and directed by Joe Mantello. The scenic designs are from Eugene Lee, Kenneth Posner did the lighting design, Susan Hilferty did the costume design, projections are from Elaine J. McCarthy, Tony Meola does the sound design, hair and wig design is by Tom Watson, musical arrangements are by Stephen Oremus, William David Brohn did the orchestrations, and James Lynn Abbott did the dance arrangements.

All photos made available via creative commons licensing courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.