Where Did the Cast of Wicked Go to School?

Twenty-seven performers have played Elphaba as a principal on the Broadway production, many of whom also played the role on tour.

In addition to the Broadway principals above, thirteen more performers have played Elphaba as a principal exclusively on the national tours.

Twenty performers have played Glinda as a principal on Broadway.

Fourteen additional performers played Glinda as a principal exclusively on the national tours.

The standby position in Wicked is one of the most demanding jobs on Broadway. The performer must be ready to go on at any moment, knows the entire show cold, but may not perform for weeks at a time. Many of the principals listed above started as standbys and were promoted. But several other standbys and understudies made their own mark on the roles.

Eden Espinosa was the original Elphaba standby on opening night in 2003 and was later promoted to principal, setting the template for the standby-to-star pipeline that would define Wicked's casting for two decades. Saycon Sengbloh, who served as Elphaba standby starting in 2005, was the first Black actor to perform the role in any production. Kristy Cates, an original cast understudy and CCM roommate of Shoshana Bean, covered Elphaba from opening night and later chaired Performing Arts at the New York Film Academy.

On the Glinda side, Laura Bell Bundy was the original standby and went on to originate Elle Woods in Legally Blonde on Broadway. Tiffany Haas, a CCM graduate and former Miss Ohio, served as Glinda standby on Broadway for nearly a decade. Stacie Morgain Lewis, an Ithaca College graduate, was promoted from understudy to standby in 2005. Jennafer Newberry served as Glinda standby on the second national tour before becoming the Broadway standby, and Allie Trimm covered the role on Broadway before being promoted to principal in 2025.

Emmy Raver-Lampman covered Elphaba on the first national tour before going on to star in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy. Emily Kristen Morris, a CCM graduate, served as Elphaba standby on the second national tour and is now an IVA-certified voice teacher. And Oluchi Nwaokorie, a 2025 University of Michigan graduate, is the current Elphaba standby on Broadway, continuing Michigan's extraordinary pipeline into this show.

The University of Michigan has produced more Wicked leads than any other school in the country. Six graduates have played Glinda or Elphaba across Broadway and tour, with a seventh (Kate Reinders) attending for one semester before leaving for New York.

Jennifer Laura Thompson was the first Broadway replacement Glinda in 2004, one year after graduating. Jenni Barber graduated summa cum laude in 2005 and played the role on Broadway in 2014, eventually joining the USC faculty. McKenzie Kurtz, a Jimmy Award finalist, graduated in 2019 and was Broadway's Glinda by 2023. Helene Yorke originated Glinda on the second national tour. Laurel Harris rose from the ensemble to principal Elphaba on that same tour. And Oluchi Nwaokorie, who graduated in 2025, is the current Elphaba standby on Broadway.

Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama has produced five performers who have played Glinda or Elphaba, more than any other school for the Glinda role specifically. Megan Hilty graduated in 2004, joined Wicked as the Broadway standby that same year, and was promoted to principal Glinda in 2005 before originating the role on the first national tour. Kara Lindsay played Broadway's Glinda across two separate stints. Amanda Jane Cooper played the role on both national tours and then on Broadway. Erin Mackey left Carnegie Mellon after her first year when she was cast on the national tour and later returned as Broadway's Glinda. And Emily Koch played Elphaba on the second national tour.

NYU Tisch holds one of the most iconic claims in Broadway history: Idina Menzel, who earned her BFA in Drama in 1992, originated the role of Elphaba and won the Tony Award. But the school's Wicked connections run much deeper. Alli Mauzey, who earned her BFA in Drama with a minor in Music, played Glinda on Broadway across three separate stints and on the first national tour. Brittney Johnson, a 2012 Tisch graduate, made history as the first Black actor to play Glinda full-time on Broadway. Jenn Gambatese, who double-majored in Drama and Sociology at Tisch (magna cum laude, 1997), played Glinda on the first national tour. And Jennafer Newberry, also a Tisch BFA, played Glinda on the second national tour before becoming the Broadway standby.

The University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music has produced four Wicked performers across the show's history. Shoshana Bean graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre in 1999 and became the first replacement Elphaba on Broadway. Tiffany Haas earned her BFA in Opera and Musical Theater and played Glinda on the second national tour before serving as Broadway's Glinda standby for nearly a decade. Kristy Cates, Bean's CCM roommate, was an original cast Elphaba understudy from opening night in 2003. And Emily Kristen Morris served as Elphaba standby on the second national tour.

Syracuse has produced four Wicked leads, three of them Elphabas. Julia Murney earned her degree in Theatre and played the role on both the first national tour and Broadway. Mary Kate Morrissey graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater in 2011, served as the second national tour's Elphaba standby, was promoted to principal on tour, and then repeated the standby-to-principal climb on Broadway. Hannah Corneau graduated from Syracuse's vocal program, co-founded the a cappella group RANGE, and was Broadway's Elphaba when the COVID shutdown hit. And Patti Murin, a BFA Musical Theatre graduate, played Glinda on the first national tour before going on to originate Anna in Frozen on Broadway.

Penn State has produced three Elphabas across Broadway and tour. Caroline Bowman graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre in 2010 and played the role on Broadway from 2014 to 2015. Talia Suskauer, a 2018 graduate who also attended Dreyfoos School of the Arts, played Elphaba on the second national tour for nearly three years (including the COVID shutdown) before moving to the Broadway company. And Jessie Davidson, a 2017 graduate, is the current Elphaba on the second national tour.

Three Boston Conservatory graduates have played Glinda on the second national tour. Allison Bailey joined the tour ensemble as Glinda standby in 2015, was promoted to principal in 2019, and played the role through the COVID shutdown and restart until 2022, making her one of the longest-tenured cast members in any Wicked production. Celia Hottenstein followed Bailey as principal Glinda on the tour from 2023 to 2025. And Hayley Podschun attended the Conservatory for one year as a Music Theatre major before leaving to join the national tour of Hairspray; she later returned to Wicked as the tour's Glinda from 2013 to 2014. Bailey also holds an MBA from the University of West Florida, making her one of the most academically diverse performers in the show's history.

The remaining performers trained at an impressively wide range of schools. Some came from elite conservatories. Others came from liberal arts colleges, state schools, international programs, or no college at all. Here is every school represented.

The 2024 film adaptation brought Wicked to its largest audience yet, grossing over $750 million worldwide and earning ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, with two wins (Best Costume Design and Best Production Design). Director Jon M. Chu cast two performers whose training backgrounds could not be more different.

Ariana Grande (Glinda) did not attend college. She grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, performing at the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater from age eight. She attended Pine Crest School and North Broward Preparatory School before making her Broadway debut in 13: The Musical at 15. She was cast as Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon's Victorious soon after and launched a music career that has produced seven studio albums, three Grammy Awards, and tens of billions of streams across platforms. Her casting as Glinda represents the most high-profile example of the no-formal-training path in Wicked's history.

A few patterns emerge when you look at the full picture across two decades of casting:

• Michigan dominates. Six graduates have played Elphaba or Glinda across Broadway and tour. The school has produced more Wicked leads than any other program in the country, and its alumni span the full 20-year history from Jennifer Laura Thompson in 2004 to Oluchi Nwaokorie in 2026.
• Carnegie Mellon owns Glinda. Four of the school's five Wicked alumni played Glinda, including Megan Hilty, who became arguably the most famous Glinda after Kristin Chenoweth. The School of Drama's acting program clearly develops the specific combination of comedic timing, vocal precision, and physical comedy that the role demands.
• Syracuse is Elphaba's school. Three of the four Syracuse alumni played Elphaba. The program seems to develop the vocal power and dramatic intensity the role requires.
• CCM is the quiet powerhouse. The University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music produced four performers across both lead roles and both principal and standby tracks: Shoshana Bean (Broadway Elphaba), Tiffany Haas (tour Glinda and Broadway standby), Kristy Cates (original cast Elphaba understudy), and Emily Kristen Morris (tour Elphaba standby). No other school outside Michigan covers that much ground.
• You do not need a BFA. Several of the most iconic Elphabas had no traditional college degree at all. Eden Espinosa went from Canyon High School to Disneyland to originating the standby role on opening night. Stephanie J. Block did not attend college and originated Elphaba on the first national tour before playing the role on Broadway. Lindsay Mendez went straight from Orange County High School of the Arts to New York. Alison Luff went from a Texas high school directly to professional work. Lindsay Pearce attended only Modesto Junior College. Alexandra Socha, Broadway's Glinda from 2024 to 2025, skipped college entirely after being cast in Spring Awakening at 17.
• Non-traditional paths keep expanding. Lencia Kebede, who played Elphaba on Broadway from 2025 to 2026, was a political science and diplomacy double major at Occidental College. Allie Trimm studied psychology at Stanford. Jessica Vosk earned a communications degree from Montclair State and worked on Wall Street. Donna Vivino majored in English at Barnard. The days when only BFA Musical Theatre graduates could book a leading role in a Broadway musical are long over.
• The standby-to-star pipeline is real. Multiple performers, including Megan Hilty, Brittney Johnson, Mary Kate Morrissey, Alyssa Fox, Keri Rene Fuller, Allie Trimm, Allison Bailey, and Jennafer Newberry, spent months or years as standbys before being promoted to principal. The standby position is not a consolation prize. It is a professional apprenticeship that regularly produces the next lead.
• International training has a seat at the table. Kerry Ellis trained at Laine Theatre Arts in the UK. Rachel Tucker earned a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Academy of Music in London. Willemijn Verkaik graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. Lauren Samuels trained at Guildford School of Acting. Gina Beck graduated from Royal Central. Jeanna de Waal trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Wicked has consistently cast across borders.
• Wicked makes firsts. Brittney Johnson was the first Black actor to play Glinda full-time on Broadway. Lencia Kebede was the first full-time Black Elphaba on Broadway. Alyssa Fox was the first Asian American Elphaba on Broadway. Zoe Jensen is the first Asian American Glinda on a US tour. Lissa deGuzman was the first Filipina Elphaba on tour. These milestones span the most recent five years of casting, reflecting a deliberate broadening of who gets to tell this story.

If you are a student exploring performing arts programs, Wicked's cast history is one of the strongest arguments that there is no single path to Broadway. More than 70 performers have played these two roles across two decades as principals alone, and they trained at more than 35 different schools spanning three countries. Some earned BFAs from elite conservatories. Some dropped out. Some studied political science, psychology, English, or computer communications. Some never set foot in a college classroom.

What they share is the same stage, the same green face paint or sparkly crown, and the same audience. The school on your resume opens doors, but the work you do after you walk through them is what keeps you there.

Explore all of these programs and more on stageready.