WICKED will feature West End stars when its international tour begins at Bradford Alhambra on July 20.

More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold for the hit musical, which retells the Wizard of Oz story through the eyes of the witches.

Wicked, which features the hit song Defying Gravity, will run for five weeks until August 21, with Bradford the only city to host the show outside London in 2016.

Jacqueline Hughes, who plays ‘wicked’ witch Elphaba, starred in the UK and Ireland tour of the musical to great acclaim. She is is currently appearing in the tour of Mary Poppins.

Carly Anderson, who plays the good witch Glinda, recently appeared in Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum and played the starring role of Kira in the London premiere of the musical Xanadu.

Bradley Jaden, who plays Fiyero, is currently starring as Enjolras in Les Misérables in the West End, while Brookside star Steven Pinder is returning to Wicked to play The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond.

Kim Ismay, who has starred as Tanya in Mamma Mia! in the West End and on its international tour, will play Madame Morrible.

BAFTA Cymru winner Iddon Jones will play Boq, and Emily Shaw, who was in the original cast of Matilda, will play Nessarose.

Wicked was hailed as “a wicked and wonderful vision of Oz” by the London Evening Standard and “a magical story of friendship, love and growing up” by OfficialLondonTheatre.com.

The multi award-winning London version is now in its 10th year, and around the world Wicked has been seen by 50 million people in 14 countries and won over 100 major awards.

The show is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire that ingeniously re-imagined the stories and characters created by L Frank Baum in his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Wicked tells the untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two sorcery students, who eventually fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Visit bradford-theatres.co.uk or call 01274 432000 to book tickets.