News first broke in the early hours of 28 January 2010 that Lee was to return to the West End to play Fiyero in the hit show Wicked, with his first performance in the role on Monday 10 May.
But before that came the new cast photoshoot which yielded the production photos shown on this page and from which there are also a couple of videos (below) and a few screencaps (click any to view all).
Lee had just 15 days between finishing the UK tour of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and opening in Wicked, and as if that wasn't already a tight enough rehearsal period, his daughter Betsy was born on 1 May. He has often spoken since of that mad 10 days - time split between rehearsals and hospital, learning lines with his script in one hand and Betsy cradled in the other.
First night nerves may well have been heightened by the knowledge that the original American creative team were in the audience, in town to check on their 'baby' and spend a week rehearsing the new London cast.
Last updated: 10/05/2018