Talia Suskauer Joins The Broadway Cast Of 'Wicked' As The New Elphaba

The Broadway blockbuster WICKED will welcome new cast members to the Gershwin Theatre this summer. Beginning Tuesday, May 24, Talia Suskauer will assume the role of Elphaba; Tony Award winner Cleavant Derricks will take over the role of The Wizard; James D. Gish will become the production’s new Fiyero; Tony Award nominee Clifton Davis will step into the role of Doctor Dillamond; and Broadway newcomer Mikayla Renfrow will assume the role of Nessarose. Ms. Suskauer, Mr. Derricks, and Mr. Davis all come to the Gershwin Theatre from the show’s National Tour. Mr. Gish and Ms. Renfrow will be making their Broadway debuts.

They join a cast which currently includes Brittney Johnson as Glinda, Sharon Sachs as Madame Morrible, and Jordan Barrow as Boq. Lindsay Pearce (Elphaba), Michael McCormick (The Wizard), Sam Gravitte (Fiyero), Mili Diaz (Nessarose), and Michael X. Martin (Doctor Dillamond) will play their final performances on Sunday, May 22.  

ABOUT THE CAST

TALIA SUSKAUER (Elphaba) comes to the Broadway company of Wicked from the show’s National Tour, where she played the role of Elphaba since 2019. Originally from Florida, Talia attended Penn State, where she re­ceived her BFA in Musical Theater. She previously appeared on Broadway in Be More Chill, as well as in that musical’s off-Broadway run. Regional credits include Shrek (Fiona), Little Women (Jo), and The Secret Garden (Lily). @taliasuskauer

CLEAVANT DERRICKS (The Wizard). Broadway: Dreamgirls (Tony and Drama Desk award for Best Featured Actor and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Vocal Arrangements), Bob Fosse’s Big Deal (Tony and Drama Desk award nominations for Best Actor), Vinette Carroll’s Your Arms Too Short to Box with God and But Never Jam Today, Hair, and Brooklyn The Musical. Cleavant won the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Actor in the Broadway national tour of The Full Monty. Film: Moscow on the Hudson, The Slugger’s Wife, Offbeat, Carnival of Souls, Bluffing It, World Traveler. TV series regular: “Sliders,” “Thea,” “Drexell’s Class,” “Good Sports,” “Woops!”

JAMES D. GISH (Fiyero) is making his Broadway debut in Wicked. National Tours include playing Gerry Goffin in Beautiful and Feuilly in Les Misérables. Recent regional credits include Jervis (Daddy Long Legs, Phoenix Theatre Co.), Tony (West Side Story), Jack Kelly (Newsies), and Toxic Avenger (The Toxic Avenger). Toured with solo album So In Love (#6 on iTunes Classical Chart, 2017), produced by DW Music at Warner Brothers, Nashville. Socials: @jamesdgish. www.jamesdgish.com

CLIFTON DAVIS (Doctor Dillamond), the Tony and Grammy-nominated veteran actor, is thrilled to reprise the role of Doctor Dillamond. Highlights from Davis’ eight Broadway shows include originating the role of “Sultan” in Aladdin and creating the role of “Valentine” in Two Gentlemen of Verona, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. TV series regulars/recur­ring: “Madam Secretary,” “Godfather of Harlem,” “Amen.” Additional: “New Amsterdam,” “Blue Bloods,” “Billions.”

MIKAYLA RENFROW (Nessarose) will be making her Broadway debut with Wicked. NYC workshops include Bliss as Princess Kimber. Her regional credits include the title role in Cinderella (Paramount Theatre), Alice in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (The Muny), DeLee in Smokey Joe’s Cafe (The Fulton Theatre). She is a recent graduate of CCM. @mikayla.renf

ABOUT WICKED

Currently the 5th longest-running show in Broadway history, WICKED is the winner of over 100 international awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards. Since opening in 2003, WICKED has been performed in over 100 cities in 16 countries around the world (U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, The Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Switzerland and China) and has thus far been translated into six languages: Japanese, German, Dutch, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese. WICKED has been seen by over 60 million people worldwide and has amassed over $5 billion in global sales. 

In addition to the Broadway production, WICKED in North America has enjoyed unprecedented record-breaking sit-down engagements in Chicago, where it ran for nearly four years; Los Angeles, where it ran for two years; and San Francisco, where it ran for nearly two years, as well as two North American Tours.

The Broadway sensation WICKED looks at what happened in the Land of Oz…but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin, who is smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.”

With a thrilling score that includes the hits “Defying Gravity,” “Popular” and “For Good,” WICKED has been hailed by The New York Times as “the defining musical of the decade,” and by Time Magazine as “a magical Broadway musical with brains, heart, and courage.” NBC Nightly News calls the hit musical “the most successful Broadway show ever.” 

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

For more information about WICKED, please visit www.WickedTheMusical.com.