For one Lancaster native, it’s a great time to be “Wicked.”
Manheim Township High School class of 2005 grad Michael Thatcher, who has been in the cast of the Broadway musical “Wicked” for more than 900 performances since July 2022, says he’s thrilled to be a part of the iconic show — especially now.
As the country prepares to see the new film adaptation of “Wicked” that opens locally this week, Thatcher says he’s grateful to be playing several roles, and understudying others, in the origin story of the relationship between the “good” and “bad” witches — Glinda and Elphaba — from “The Wizard of Oz.”
“Eight shows a week, I am playing about six different roles in the show,” Thatcher says by phone from New York.
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Manheim Township High School grad Michael Thatcher currently plays several roles in the cast of “Wicked” on Broadway.
Those roles include the Witch’s Father, an Ozian official and a train conductor. And as a palace guard in the Emerald City, “I get to say the most iconic line in musical theater, ‘The Wizard will see you now!’ Anybody that loves ‘Wicked’ knows that line,” he says.
Thatcher got to shout that line to the whole country during a performance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last year, during a “Wicked” production number in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary.
Thatcher, whose Broadway debut was in “The Play that Goes Wrong” in 2018, is also an understudy, stepping into the roles of the Wizard of Oz or Doctor Dillamond — a teacher who is a talking goat — when the actors playing those parts need a day off.
Thatcher — whose mother, Patricia Rinehart, and other extended family members still live in Lancaster County — was bitten by the acting bug not long after now-retired Manheim Township Performing Arts directors Mark and Beth Wagner put him in a high school production of “The Will Rogers Follies” when he was in fifth grade.
“I got to hang out with a bunch of high schoolers. I was enthralled by their talent, and that’s when the bug bit me,” he says. “Once I was in high school, I just did as many shows as I could.”
We recently caught up with Thatcher on a rare day off. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Do you have a favorite role in “Wicked”?
I thoroughly enjoy playing the Wizard whenever I get the chance to do that. It’s a blast.
I had not seen “Wicked” before I was in it. … My first time I ever saw it was the day of my first rehearsal. They gave me two tickets that night. I was sitting there in the audience the very first night, and starting to tear up at one point and, I’m like, “Oh, I get it now. Now I know why this has been open for 20 years.”
Michael Thatcher played the role of Archibald Craven in “The Secret Garden,” his senior musical for Manheim Township Performing Arts in 2005.
Did you see the new “Wicked” film with other members of the cast?
The producers of the movie, along with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and John Chu, the director, hosted a bunch of people that were involved with the movie, but also the original Broadway company and the current Broadway company. It was in a private theater of about 300 seats. And we got to watch the whole film with those actors who are in the film. It was around the time of our 21st anniversary, so we had a big party after the viewing to celebrate.
What did you think of the film?
I thought it was fantastic. It’s broken up into two parts, and the whole first film is the length of the entire Broadway show, but it expands in areas where you want to get a deeper dive into these characters, so it was incredible and so fun. I think audiences are going to go nuts for the movie. I think it’s going to be a huge hit.
I see you recently made your debut at [New York club] 54 Below, singing in a cabaret.
I’m trying to find other creative, fun outlets to work on new material. So I started doing some cabarets, I’ve been doing some short films. I actually just shot an episode of “Law & Order.” I think it [airs] Dec. 4. I am not a dead body; I am playing Agent Finn Carson. It’s not a huge part. But it’s a fun scene that I get to do.
Do you have dream theater roles?
The one I’ve told my agents to keep an eye out for is to follow in the footsteps of my fellow Lancaster actor Jonathan Groff and tackle King George in “Hamilton.” Otherwise, I just want to continue to be a working actor. I’m not looking for fame, I’m not really looking for fortune. I like having a good, steady living, but my goal is to be on the short list of actors they bring in to audition for the new musical. I just want to continually be given the opportunities to keep working here in New York. I’m really itching to do some Shakespeare.
Manheim Township High School alumnus Michael Thatcher plays several roles in the musical “Wicked” on Broadway.
What has it been like being part of the “Wicked” universe at this time — with the 20th anniversary last year and the film this year?
It’s wild. It’s been absolutely incredible. Leading up to the 20th anniversary, we had so many special events and people coming back to the show. The original witches, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, were there to celebrate the 20th anniversary. And it’s been such a fun experience to be a very small part of this hugely popular and iconic show. I am so grateful and so honored and it’s such a privilege to be a part of this. And the other fun thing is that it’s so rare for someone in my field to be able to have the stability and job security of being in a show that is so popular and so iconic and isn’t going anywhere.
Will you be with the show for the foreseeable future?
Yes. I have an open-ended contract and I have no plans of leaving anytime soon. I’m happy to stay in Oz as long as they’ll have me. It’s grueling. And I love it. We work six days a week. We only get one day off a week, and that can get tiring.
Every night during curtain call, I always try to find a young kid or a young theater lover and try to make eye contact with them. And to see their reaction and see how thrilled they are to be there — seeing us do our thing every night — it is truly so inspiring and so special.
When I was 11 years old, my aunt took me to see “Les Miz” on Broadway. And my mouth was agape, my eyes were wide open, I could not believe what I was seeing. And now, every night, I get to do the same thing for other young theatergoers that may be getting bit by the bug that I was bit by. It’s so special to be a part of that. I love this crazy, wonderful, wild job that I have.
You can see Thatcher as an Emerald City guard in this 2023 “Wicked” cast performance on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”