Posts tagged Dianne Pilkington
Dianne Pilkington to Join Cast of West End’s MAMMA MIA!
0
Dianne Pilkington
On June 10, Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda, former s/b Glinda – West End) will join the cast of the West End production of MAMMA MIA! in the role of Donna Sheridan. MAMMA MIA! currently plays at London’s Novello Theatre. With 24 of the 33 cast members changing on June 10, this represents the largest cast change this production has seen since it first opened in 1999.
For tickets and more information about the London production of MAMMA MIA!, visit mamma-mia.com/london.asp.
Nessa’s Niblets: April 24, 2012
0Gene Weygandt (former Wizard – Chicago, 1Ntl. Tour) starred as Dan in “Snapshots: a Musical Scrapbook,” a musical containing nearly thirty songs from shows composed by Stephen Schwartz.
Dee Roscioli (former Elphaba – 1st Ntl. Tour, Broadway, Chicago; former s/b Elphaba – Chicago, San Francisco), Stephanie J. Block (former Elphaba – Broadway, 1st Ntl. Tour; former ensemble & u/s Elphaba – pre-Broadway), and Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda – West End; former s/b Glinda – West End) performed the role of of Grizabella in “Cats the Musical.”
Prior to performing together in “Wicked,” Amanda Harrison (former Elphaba – Melbourne and Sydney) and Lucy Durack (former Glinda – Australian National Tour, Sydney, Melbourne) appeared together in the musical “Oklahoma!”
Nessa’s Niblets: May 24, 2011
0Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda – West End; former s/b Glinda – West End) played the role of a blind opera singer in the film “The Wolfman”, but her scene was cut from the final version. However, she can still be seen in the deleted scenes on the DVD.
Julia Murney (former Elphaba – 1NT, Broadway), Idina Menzel (original Elphaba – Broadway, London), and Taye Diggs (former Fiyero – Broadway) all appeared in the off-Broadway production of Andrew Lippa’s “The Wild Party”, originating the roles of ‘Queenie’, ‘Kate’, and ‘Mr. Black’, respectively.
Louise Dearman (Glinda – West End) is the voice singing in the ‘Confused.com’ adverts on British television. Her puppy, Alan, is also featured in the most recent advert.
Nessa’s Niblets: February 1, 2011
0Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda – West End; former s/b Glinda – West End) understudied Annalene Beechey (former s/b Glinda – West End) in the role of Cosette in the London production of Les Miserables back in 1997; ten years later she replaced her as standby Glinda!
Kerry Ellis (former Elphaba – West End, Broadway; former s/b Elphaba – West End) originally auditioned for both Elphaba and Glinda in the Original London Cast of Wicked.
Julia Murney (former Elphaba – 1NT, Broadway) was the first person to perform Defying Gravity; Stephen Schwartz requested her specifically to sing it at a tribute concert to him. She was also the first person to say ‘period’ on national television.
Wicked Nominated at the BroadwayWorld UK Awards
2Congratulations to the London production of Wicked, who have been nominated for ‘Best Long Running West End Show’ in the the first annual BroadwayWorld UK Awards! Several of the current cast have also been nominated for their performances in the show; both Rachel Tucker (Elphaba) and Louise Dearman (Glinda) have been nominated for ‘Best Leading Actress in a Musical’, and Lee Mead (Fiyero) has been nominated for ‘Best Leading Actor in a Musical’. Clive Carter (The Wizard) has been nominated for ‘Best Featured Actor in a Musical’.
A number of Wicked alumni have also been nominated for their performances in other shows. Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda – West End; former standby Glinda – West End) has been nominated for ‘Best Leading Actress in a Play’ for her performance as Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret in ‘The 39 Steps’; Kerry Ellis (former Elphaba – West End, Broadway; former standby Elphaba – West End) has been nominated for ‘Best Leading Actress in a Musical’ for her performance as Nancy in ‘Oliver!’; Katie Rowley Jones (former Nessarose – West End) has been nominated for ‘Best Featured Actress in a Musical’ for her performance as Sister Mary Robert in ‘Sister Act’, up against Caissie Levy (former Elphaba – Los Angeles; former standby Elphaba – Los Angeles; former ensemble, u/s Elphaba – Broadway) in the same category for her performance as Sheila in ‘Hair’; and Shoshana Bean (former Elphaba – Broadway, First National Tour; former standby Elphaba – Broadway) has been nominated for ‘Theatrical Event of the Year’ for her concert ‘Shoshana Bean – Live In The West End’ last month.
You can show your support and vote in the awards here. Voting closes in mid-November, and the results will be announced shortly afterwards.
Interview with Dianne Pilkington in the Official London Theatre Guide
0Click here to check out a new interview with Dianne Pilkington (former Glinda – West End) in which she discusses “Wicked” as well as her career move to “The 39 Steps”.
Remember That Time…?: Dianne Pilkington
1Remember that time when Dianne Pilkington was doing one of her first performances as Glinda and she accidentally threw the wand out into the audience during “Popular”?
Exploring Oz: Trivia on Glinda’s Costumes
2This is just some various trivia about Glinda’s costumes that you may or may not know…
- There have been three different designs for the Bubble Dress: the original (such as what Kristin Chenoweth wore), which had a less sequined top and a flatter bottom; the second one (designed as a more flattering approach for Glindas who were not as small; the bottom puffed out more and the top was more curvy); and the latest one, which was very similar to number two, except the bottom puffed out even more and the bottom was made out of an even shinier material. The three designs are shown right here, in order:
- The actress playing Glinda wears her shoes for the Shiz scenes while in the opening of the show because she has to change clothes & wig in thirty seconds for the next scene.
- The other costumes have also had changes throughout the run, though none as significant as the bubble dress.
- The Glinda wig for shiz was originally straight, but then they changed it to curly, and now they have once again returned to straight, though it has a different twist to it now. Pictures are below:
- Glinda actually has two different wands: one for the bubble and one for the catfight.