Chichester musical theatre graduate tours the UK with Wicked

Adam Stickler, a BA (Hons) Musical Theatre Performance graduate, is a swing and an understudy for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz/Dr Dillamond. A swing is a performer who can step into several ensemble roles.

Wicked is a re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz story by L. Frank Baum, which opened at The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway in 2003 before transferring to The Apollo Victoria, London in 2006. The smash-hit musical has been seen by over 65 million people in more than 130 cities in 16 countries around the world.

Adam initially trained on BA (Hons) Music & Musical Theatre for his first year at the Chichester Conservatoire, before switching over to the single honours programme, Musical Theatre Performance, when it was launched by programme leader Andrew Wright in September 2017.

Whilst training, Adam took on lead roles in The Wedding Singer, Little Women, The Addams Family, Jekyll & Hyde and the world premieres of Notre Dame (Ed Court) and The Stationmaster (Tim Connor & Susannah Pearse).

Upon graduation in 2019, Adam signed with Chris Davis Management LTD and has played various roles including Prince Charming in Cinderella at the Lowther Pavilion, Lytham St Anne’s and John Carpenter in The Crooked Spire at The Chesterfield Theatres (Pomegranate).

Reflecting back on his time at Chichester, Adam said: “Having had experience of working on productions whist training, I was able to adapt to many challenges thrown my way. Studying a swing project as my dissertation set me up really well as I was prepared to become an actual swing in a professional show. The module required detailed note taking and working with multiple tracks, so it was an invaluable experience.”

The casting process for Wicked was quite intense, and Adam shared: “There were five rounds in total including a final that was filmed and sent to the American creatives. When I got the call to say I booked the job, I screamed! The lead up to rehearsals was super exciting and living in London and seeing Wicked posters everywhere just helped to hype me up even more. Touring is great, it’s a nice way to see lots of different places and you end up creating a close-knit group with the rest of the cast/crew.”

He added: “My advice to students would be to just get stuck in with as much as possible whilst you’re training. Sing in the choirs, do extra classes and audition for all the shows and showcases!”

The Wicked tour concludes in early 2025 at The Palace Theatre, Manchester and plays other venues in Southampton, Liverpool, Dublin, Sunderland and Cardiff.

For more information visit: www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/tour

For more on the musical theatre programmes at the University of Chichester, visit: chi.ac.uk/stage-and-screen/