Penny McNamee, Wicked’s Nessa Rose, to leave company

The original Australian Nessa Rose, Penny McNamee, will leave Wicked in the coming months, AussieTheatre.com can reveal.

It is unknown if a replacement has been cast, but it is understood that there has not been auditions held for the role.

McNamee’s musical theatre career started at the age of 19 when she was cast as one of the leads in Jacobsen Entertainment & Cameron Mackintosh’s 2002 production of Witches Of Eastwick. Her portrayal of the lead juvenile role Jennifer Gabriel saw her nominated for a MO Award.

She went on to perform numerous television, film and theatre roles.

Earlier this year, McNamee spoke of her joy at being part of the musical.

“It’s been great – the show is so huge and so exciting,” she said.

“We’ve had some hard times too, particularly when Rob Guest left us so suddenly. Watching [his partner] Kellie Dickerson, a leader in our company, suffer so much has been extremely difficult.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Harrison has been removed from the

Wicked website, with Jemma Rix and Pippa Grandison now being officially billed as Elphaba for the first time.

Health concerns have seen Harrison miss the majority of the Sydney season of Wicked.