Caroline Keiff is a British theatre performer, best known for her portrayal of

Nessarose ''Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West'' is an American novel published in 1995, written by Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is the first in ''The Wicked Years'' series, and was followed by '' Son of ...

in ''Wicked''. She was member of the original London cast and performed on the show's opening night of 27 September 2006. She performed in the ensemble and understudied the role of Nessarose. From July 2007, she began to understudy

Glinda Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Coun ...

. She then replaced

Katie Rowley Jones Katie Rowley Jones (born c. 1978) is a British musical theatre actress, best known for originating the role of Nessarose in the West End production of ''Wicked''. Early life and education Katie Rowley Jones was born in Cambridge, and is one o ...

in the lead role of Nessarose on 9 June 2008, while continuing to understudy Glinda. She departed on 9 May 2009, after almost three years in the show, and was succeeded by

Natalie Anderson Natalie Jane Anderson (born on 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Stella Davenport in the medical drama ''The Royal'' from 2005 to 2008 and Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap o ...

. She also appeared in ''Legally Blonde The Musical'' as Vivienne Kensington. She was an original London cast member and performed on the show's opening night of 13 January 2010. Keiff played her final performance on 23 October 2010 and was replaced by

Siobhan Dillon Siobhan Patricia Dillon (born 1 September 1984) is an English actress and singer, who rose to fame when she performed in the British talent show-themed television series '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' on BBC One in 2006. Since then ...

. On 6 September 2011 she returned to the role for a one-off performance to cover Dillon who was sick, as both other understudies were unavailable.

Biography

Keiff is originally from Brentwood, in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, attending St Martin's School. After appearing in a local production of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'' at the age of nine, she participated in many local amateur musical productions before going to the

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

, graduating with a First Class BA (Hons).

Theatre credits

The Far Pavilions ''The Far Pavilions'' is an epic novel of British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye, published in 1978, which tells the story of an English officer during the British Raj. There are many parallels between this novel and Rudyard Kipling's '' Kim'' th ...

as Alice, u/s Belinda (Shaftesbury Theatre) *

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

as Sarah Brown (Courtyard Theatre) * Little Shop of Horrors as Chiffon (Jersey Opera House) *

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

as Thea Elvsted (Norwich Playhouse) *

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Press ...

(Yvonne Arnaud Theatre) *

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

(Yvonne Arnaud Theatre) * 42nd Street as Anytime Annie (Octagon Theatre, Yeovil) * Summer Holiday (UK Tour) *

Songs for a New World ''Songs for a New World'' is a work of musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger ...

(Guildford Playhouse) *

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

as Belle (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds) * Dick Whittington as Alice Fitzwarren (Perth Theatre) *

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

as Jill (Perth Theatre) *

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

as Ensemble, u/s Nessarose, u/s Glinda (Apollo Victoria Theatre) *

as Nessarose, u/s Glinda (Apollo Victoria Theatre) *

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice ''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Production history Sam Mendes directed the first production at the Royal National Theatre that transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London's ...

(Sheringham Theatre) *

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

as Vivienne Kensington (Savoy Theatre) *

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in '' The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels an ...

as Lily / Rose (Birmingham Rep Theatre) * Carmen as Carmen (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough & The New Vic Theatre, Stoke)

References

British musical theatre actresses Living people 1981 births Actresses from London {{UK-stage-actor-stub