<P> The show began its first national tour of the UK and Ireland on September 12, 2013 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, where it is played to November 16 . It then played Dublin in 2013, and in 2014, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton and Edinburgh . In 2015, the tour visited Plymouth, Bristol, Sunderland and Aberdeen, before concluding in Salford on July 25, 2015 . </P> <P> The original cast comprised former West End standby Nikki Davis - Jones as Elphaba, with former ensemble member of the West End production, Emily Tierney, as Glinda . Alongside them were Liam Doyle as Fiyero, Marilyn Cutts as Madame Morrible, Carina Gillespie as Nessarose and George Ure, who was reprising his role as Boq from the West End production . For the first time, the roles of The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond were played by a single actor, Dale Rapley . At the time, the only other actor to play both roles in a single performance was London's David Stoller in November 2008, but this was only due to the absence of several actors . </P> <P> Another former West End standby, Ashleigh Gray, took over as Elphaba for the tour's second contract run, making her the second actress after Davis - Jones to have played the role in both the West End and the UK touring production . Originally, Davis - Jones was due to leave in order to return to the London company and lead its cast, however, it was later announced that, towards the end of her run in August 2014 she had withdrawn from the tour and subsequently would not be appearing in the West End . </P> <P> A second UK and Ireland Tour is due to begin in December 2017 and continue to run until at least January 2019 . Casting for the Tour was announced in September 2017, with Wicked newcomer Amy Ross starring as Elphaba, and Helen Woolf - a former Glinda understudy in the West End and UK National Tour productions - starring as Glinda . Former International Tour cast members Iddon Jones (Boq), Emily Shaw (Nessarose), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible) and Steven Pinder (Doctor Dillamond & The Wizard) reprise their previous roles, while the cast is rounded out by Wicked newcomer Aaron Sidwell as Fiyero . Nikki Bentley also joins the production as the Standby for Elphaba . </P>

Who plays the lead in wicked on broadway