Amanda Harrison in the Original Melbourne Production
An Australian production of Wicked officially opened on July 12, 2008 with previews commencing June 27 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. Australian actors Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack played Elphaba and Glinda respectively. They were joined by Rob Mills as Fiyero, Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible, Rob Guest as The Wizard, Anthony Callea as Boq and Penny McNamee as Nessarose. The Australian production broke box-office records, selling 24,750 tickets in just three hours during pre-sales and grossing over $1.3 million worth in ticket sales on the first business day after its official opening. On April 27, 2009, the production passed the milestone of 500,000 patrons.
Jemma Rix as Elphaba
Guest died unexpectedly on October , 2008 after suffering a stroke the previous day. After Guest's passing, Rodney Dobson (Doctor Dillamond) played the Wizard with Anton Berezin (Witch's Father) taking over his role, until Bert Newton stepped in as Guest's full-time replacement, which allowed Dobson and Berezinto return to their respective roles. After 464 performances, the show then transferred to the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, where it opened on September 12, 2009, with previews beginning on September 5.
In summer 2009, Carmen Cusack, from the 1st National tour and Chicago companies of Wicked, made her Australian debut as a temporary standby for Elphaba, as Jemma Rix was playing the role full time due to Harrison's extended leave. Harrison later returned to the role after a two month absence, before leaving all together.
Also in 2009, Jennifer DiNoia assumed the role of standby for Elphaba in the Sydney production of Wicked, standing-by for Jemma Rix who had once again assumed the lead role temporarily for Amanda Harrison.
On September 26, 2010, Wicked closed in Sydney ahead of embarking on an Australian tour, visiting Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth before flying to Singapore in 2011 to start an Asian tour, starting at the Grand Theatre in Marina Bay and finishing at the Burlesque Theatre in Seoul, South Korea. Suzie Mathers joined this leg of the tour as Glinda.
On September 17, 2013, Wicked opened at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, embarking on a new "Oz-straliasian Tour" or Australia and New Zealand, including a brief in Manila. A lot of the original principal cast from the first tour returned for this new production, including Jemma Rix as Elphaba and Suzie Mathers, who replace Lucy Durack as Glinda following the announcement of her pregnancy, Edward Grey as Boq, Emily Cascarino as Nessarose, Glen Hogstrom as Doctor Dillamond and Simon Gallaher as the Wizard. The tour visited Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth where the production closed at the Crown Theatre on June 28, 2015.