That made me LOL. Wait you forgot she has to clone herself another time to play Nessa too.

Anyways.

Thanks for the highly relevent post. Moving on, is there any word on how long Katie's contract is?

I would guess a year since it's been 11 months now that she's been here.

Didn't she join in January?

Yeah I guess she did. I forgot about Erin being there after Alli. Well then forgot my previous post.

Oh my....Then, if her contract is a year, perhaps I will still get to see her afterall. Fingers crossed.

Of course, she could always renew...she toured nearly two years and could end up staying on Broadway just as long.

Hopefully forever! I don't want her to leave, she's fantastic!

^Completely agree! Though I would love to see her originate roles.

Okay, isn't it about time that Laura Woyasz gets lead? I've seen her, friends have seen her, all agree. Flawless. Maybe she will be taking over for Chandra on tour? Does anyone know when Chandra leaves?

Just because she's good doesn't mean she'll automatically be promoted. She may like where she is as a standby.

-Tiffany Haas (bway, Wicked) joined the Second National Tour as a swing and Nessa u/s.
-Tory Ross (bway: Cry Baby, 9 to 5) is joining the Second National Tour

I don't think Laura will ever be promoted. I have a theory that, if they think you're worthy of promotion, it happens within 15 months. If you exceed 15 months, you're doomed to standby forever.

Let's examine, shall we?

Promoted Folks:
Shoshana Bean - standby for 4 months
Eden Espinosa - standby for 12 months
Lisa Brescia - standby for 15 months
Victoria Matlock - standby for 9 months
Donna Vivino - standby for 12 months
Vicki Noon - standby for 14 months (combined)
Marcie Dodd - standby for 5 months
Teal Wicks - standby for 4 months
Kristy Cates - standby for 7 months
Dee Roscioli - standby for 10 months
Carmen Cusack - standby for 10 months
Megan Hilty - standby for 10 months
Stacie Morgain Lewis - standby for 7 months
Alli Mauzey - standby for 8 months
Natalie Daradich - standby for 12 months (combined)

Non-Promoted Folks:
Saycon Sengbloh - standby for 24 months
Julie Reiber - standby for 20 months (all three times combined)
Jennifer DiNoia - standby for 34 months (combined)
Coleen Sexton - standby for 10 months
Merideth Kaye Clark - standby for 18 months
Carrie Manolakos - standby for 13 months
Laura Bell Bundy - standby for 9 months
Katie Adams - standby for 31 months
Emily Rozek - standby for 16 months
Laura Woyasz - standby for 24 months

As you can see, there are a couple of exceptions in the non-promoted section (Carrie, Coleen, Laura), but NO ONE in the promoted column has exceeded fifteen months. And really, that number should probably adjusted to twelve months. Lisa was a rare case because she didn't want to be lead (if I heard correctly), but agreed to do Chicago for three months, and Vicki was brought in to the California production a couple of months early because Marcie had to be promoted to fill the gap between Kerry and Nicole. In all honesty, if they haven't promoted you after a year, that means they don't see you as someone who can lead a production. Therefore, by my calculations, Laura and Jennifer are never going to be promoted (though I'm in total agreement that Laura most definitely should be).

I'd like to add that we probably all forget that stand-bys are supposed to be just as good as leads. So if you begin to replace everyone with prior stand-bys, you will begin loose season actors when they're needed in a plan-b situation. So for example: When you see that Mandy is out, don't you want someone like Jenny who has been there for years learning under amazing women.

Agree with both RJ & Nick's observations...and remember, Lisa Brescia, for example, wanted to stay as standby so she could work on her degree.

What was her degreee btw?

You all are completely right. It is unfortunate, but maybe Laura likes being standby. Bleh. Thanks for all those calculations (the months) it is really interesting!

BUMP! Erin Wilson tweeted this on her public twitter. Hmm...

Saw that...was wondering who's leaving - obviously, Michelle London, but who else?

^I know Meredith is also leaving soon

Columbus playbills for WICKED's 1st tour are saying Michelle is joining the company, probably this week huh?

Columbus playbills are saying August 15th which is a Sunday, which is odd! But this is Michelle's final weekend on the 2nd tour before she makes the swap over. I am going this coming week, will report back what I find out.

Is she becoming lead Nessa or Glinda? or same postion as the one she had on the 2NT? Who is she replacing?

Yes, lead Nessarose. She is replacing Brynn O'Malley as Nessarose, who has been on the tour as lead since October '09. Pretty much same position as she had on the 2NT, however this time it is not temporary, nor understudy.

I assume she won't be a Glinda u/s anymore or in the ensemble (except in the opening number), so it's not really the same position.

I guess she must have proved herself when she took over temporarily for Nessa

No, she is not covering Glinda.

It's pretty public now, and anyone that is friends with any of the 2NT cast of Facebook should know, but Michelle is leaving the 2NT on August 9th (I believe) to join the 1NT as Nessa .

^Actually, I think today is her last day. And today is also Alicia's last day for the 2NT.

^Is it really? I watched a skit the cast did for Michelle, and it referenced to August 9th. Hm. Oh well!

If today is, indeed, her last day, I wish her nothing but the best of luck on the 1NT .

^Yeah...well the 9th is a Monday and their last day in Milwaukee is the 8th, so maybe that was a date for something else...?

I love Michelle London. Mk, rant over.

steven skybell is replacing tom flynn on the 1NT of wicked on August 3rd... its in my playbill! which mrans i saw toms second to last show as dillamond

Aw, I've seen Tom as Dillamond 11 times. Maybe he's heading to Broadway?

hopefully! he was amazing! timothy has been on broadway for nearly to years! lets hope

Fingers crossed!

When i talked to Laura and told her she was amazing and that she needed to be lead Glinda, she told me "I KNOWWWW! I'D LOVE TO! MAIL THE PRODUCERS!" and i was like will do! and she was like "OH NO, I'M JUST KIDDING, THEY'D KILL ME! But seriously, i'd love to be lead." So there lol

Michelle's last day was yesterday. She's listed in the 1st tour playbill in Columbus to start on the 15th (Sunday) which I think is a typo! LOL I am going this week, as I said will report back who I see for Nessa.

Etai Benshlomo confirmed on his facebook fan page that he will be joining the 1NT September 28-October 17 in Boston, MA for a limited engagement.

I don't see it anywhere on his fan page...

Jessica, um...It Is. Under the comments.

Etai BenShlomo: I will be doing WICKED in Boston for three weeks...Sept. 28 - Oct. 17. Come check it out!
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike ·

My mistake. Sorry.

Etai Benshlomo has confirmed that it is just temporary. Justin Brill is taking a 3 week vacation. Broadway after perhaps?

I saw Steven about 27 times on Broadway. He is my favorite Dillamond.

I only saw Steven once during his brief stint in San Francisco, but the look he gave Tom McGowan's Wizard in Act Two as Elphaba said "You know what's my heart's desire" was chilling. His Dillamond knew exactly what he was doing.

So happy/proud of Steven! The First Tour is getting so many new fresh faces! Does anyone know how much longer Chandra is with the tour? Her 1-Year anniversary is August 18..

^ That's so crazy! To me, it seems like Chandra joined the tour like YESTERDAY!

August 21, actually.

Given that Jackie's proshots were taken with Richard and Chandra, I think it's probably safe to say that Chandra and Richard have both renewed (once again in Richard's case... and yay, because he's the best Fiyero ever... you know, in my humble opinion) and will be around for quite some time.

In other news, can Etai BenShlomo go to the 2nd National Tour for the winter, please? I'm a tad nervous about seeing that cast (though if Natalie and Kristine are still there when it hits San Antonio, I'm good), and Eta playing Boq would probably make the trip worth it in and of itself. Wishful thinking of course, but I sincerely doubt that Boston will be the last WICKED sees of Etai.