Related: How Do ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Connect? Us Explains
Entertainment
Broadway’s Patti Murin Has ‘Complicated Relationship’ With Wicked
While Patti Murin has been changed for the better because of Wicked, the Broadway star still has a “complicated relationship” with the production.
“First let me say: This movie is goddamn perfect,” Murin, 44, wrote via Instagram on Monday, November 25. “Then let me say: I’ve had a complicated relationship with Wicked.”
The actress played Glinda on the Wicked tour from 2012 to 2013 and got to spend almost two months in Hawaii for the gig.
“I made some of my dearest friends in the world,” she said when reflecting on that chapter of her career. “But the end of my contract coincided with my first husband telling me that he wanted to get divorced. He broke this news to me the day I had to perform for Joe Mantello to essentially audition for Broadway. I barely remember that show.”
“The powers that be in NY told my agent that I would be next in line to take over for Glinda on Broadway, but the offer never came through,” Murin continued. “They eventually said they didn’t think I was in a good place for it, and I was devastated.”
Murin was previously married to Curtis Holbrook, her costar in the Broadway production of Xanadu. She later went on to marry Chicago Med alum Colin Donnel in 2015. They have two children together.
Today, Murin — who went on to play Princess Anna in the musical Frozen — finds gratitude in how Wicked “gave me the life I have today.”
“It gave me and my ex-husband permission to separate and find ourselves,” she shared. “And the lack of an offer to do Wicked on Broadway in 2013 meant that I could do Shakespeare in the Park. Which meant that I could reconnect with @colindonnell, start dating him, marry him and have two gorgeous girls with him.”
“Wicked gave more to me than it took from me, and I have finally grown up enough to let go of the egotistical insecurities I had surrounding my experience with the show,” she continued. “I’m just humbled to be a teeny tiny part of the Wicked world.”
While Murin thinks she will “most likely never do” Wicked on Broadway, she hopes her story can inspire others to push through challenging times. And yes, she wants people to see Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo on the big screen.
“This movie is just sensational,” she concluded. “It is everything you could want from a movie musical, from the opening credits to the final riff. I think I’ll go see it again tomorrow 💖.”
Wicked is playing in theaters now.