Wakefield actor turned West End star shines in rehearsal images for Wicked UK and Ireland tour

The Tony-award winning show will visit West Yorkshire in April and May 2024.

Earlier this year, producers announced that the cast will be led by Laura, a star in the West End version of the production.

The Broadway musical phenomenon, which tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, will see Laura return as “Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West”, next Spring for the Bradford dates of the highly anticipated Wicked UK national tour.

She said: “I’m thrilled to be leading the UK and Ireland tour cast of Wicked and to be given the opportunity to continue my journey with this incredible show, which first began for me in the West End in 2017."

Growing up, Laura attended Kettlethorpe High School before joining the Mechanics' Performing Arts programme at Wakefield College.

She began her professional training and subsequent career after winning a place at London’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

She made her London stage debut in July 2013 in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, with her West End journey in Wicked beginning in 2017 when she was cast as the standby for Elphaba.

Laura subsequently assumed the starring role full-time, playing Elphaba in the West End at more than 350 performances to huge acclaim.

She added: "Having been born and raised in Yorkshire, it is a dream come true to be performing this unique and extraordinary role on the stage of the glorious Alhambra Theatre in Bradford.”