Joan Marcus Stephanie J. Block came close to getting the role of Elphaba, the so-called Wicked Witch in "Wicked," on Broadway, but was passed over. She now plays the part for the touring show. Click photo for larger image. 'Wicked' Where: PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh, Benedum Center, Downtown. When: Through March 5; Tues.-Thurs. 7:30 p.m.; Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun. 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets: 412-456-6666.

Oz has been an occasion of both heartbreak and triumph for Stephanie J. Block.

The latter comes nightly as she battles prejudice in the role of Elphaba, the so-called Wicked Witch who gives her name to "Wicked," the musical by Winnie Holzman (book, lyrics) and Stephen Schwartz (music). In this reconstructed back story to "The Wizard of Oz," adapted from Gregory Maquire's 1995 novel, Elphaba is the hero, but she is shadowed by the heartbreak Oz exacts along the way.

"Wicked" has given Block heartbreak, as well -- twice.

Starting in 2000, over two years, Block participated in several readings and workshops when the musical was in development. But as the Broadway production neared, "I got that phone call. They said, 'This is a business. Though we adore you and your talents, we've decided to go another way' " -- they had decided to give "her" role to Idina Menzel, who then went on to win the Tony Award.

"It was heartbreaking," Block said by phone from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where "Wicked" played last week. But there was a reversal just ahead: "I got two Broadway hits instead of one," going from one Oz to another and then back.

She was rehearsing "Wicked," understudying Menzel. The last week before they left for San Francisco for the pre-Broadway tryout, she got a call. They had been trying for more than a year to cast the role of Liza Minnelli in "The Boy From Oz."

"Of course I was interested! I'm still pretty new to New York, I wanted to get in front of as many directors as possible and show what I can do. That was on a Monday. They called me in again Tuesday during my lunch break. Then, could I come back the next Monday for a work session with Hugh Jackman?"

After just three auditions in less than a week, she had the part. As Block flew off to fulfill her contract in San Francisco, she sat on the plane, worrying, "What have I done? How can I possibly play Liza Minnelli?"

She quickly got over the disappointment of losing Elphaba in the excitement of making her Broadway debut opposite Jackman, whom she praises as a "generous, gracious, charitable man. In rehearsal, I used to wonder when his true colors would show up, because after all, he's a huge movie star, but he never wavered, and he never missed a show."

But playing Liza was hard. "With all due respect" to Isabel Keating, who played Judy Garland, Block says she figures she had the much harder assignment. "Liza's still living. Isabel's a complete genius and marvelous, but she had to play only five or six years of Garland's life. I played Liza from 18 to 40," portraying her "coming into her own and becoming this huge star," complete with lots of hairstyle and weight changes. "It's difficult to play that honestly."

What the audience liked was her big number from the "Liza with a Z" concert: "I got to use her gestures and that red dress. The audience would go wild." That was the problem, that audiences think they know Liza because of a show they saw her do. "They feel some intimate connection, some sort of friendship."

Block met the real Liza only briefly, in Minnelli's dressing room at Carnegie Hall, before "The Boy From Oz" opened. "She didn't come to see it, which I can really understand. ... I would think long and hard before playing another living, iconic character."

Elphaba is iconic, too -- think of Margaret Hamilton in the movie of "The Wizard of Oz." But audiences aren't as protective of her, because in "Wicked" we meet her as a sympathetic young girl. Instead of the Oz we know, we get Maguire's back story, with layers of tragic history.

So Block was closed out of one Oz, only to enter another. Not that there's any intrinsic connection between the two -- "The Boy From Oz" gets its name from how some Australians refer to their country.

But flash forward to just more than a year ago, when "Wicked" re-entered Block's life and she was cast to play Elphaba in the national tour.

Fortunately, she says, director Joe Mantello didn't want Block or Kendra Kassebaum, playing Glinda, to be "cookie-cutter replicas" of the Broadway versions. "We had the luxury of not developing the show but actually rehearsing it."

But then "Wicked" occasioned Block's heartbreak again. They were in Toronto, a final late-night rehearsal before performing for their first audience, working on a new effect, a flying broom entrance for Elphaba. One of the cables popped, and the computer running the program kept right on going.

"It was terrifying and painful," Block recalls of her back injury. "And it was so disappointing, because I was finally going to realize this part but was again denied." They told her it would take six to eight weeks to mend, but she was determined, working hard with her doctors and therapist and boyfriend, and in 2 1/2 weeks she was able to start playing Elphaba again.

Block's "Wicked" saga ends in Pittsburgh, when her year with the show concludes. Still in physical therapy from the accident, she's looking forward to taking a few months off, including a cruise with her family. There's a new project in negotiation, but that's several months away, and Block knows better than to talk about something "until I sign on the dotted line."

Block grew up in Orange County in Southern California and trained privately. She went to college for only five days: "I knew I wanted to get real-life experience, to [go] into the real world and see if I would sink or swim."

Kassebaum, who plays Glinda, is from St. Louis and studied at Southwest Missouri State, gradually moving from speech pathology into acting, helped along by teachers who took an interest in her talent. She moved to New York nine years ago and has appeared on Broadway in "Assassins" (also directed by Mantello) and "Rent."

She's never had such a high-profile role as in "Wicked," which she says travels on a cloud of buzz and excitement. "There's this rock star-esque part, young people waiting to greet you after the show. It's not a tour that comes in unnoticed!"

Kassebaum reveals that there may be a small twist for Pittsburgh, something about Terrible Towels and the curtain call: "But you never heard it here."

Although "Wicked" is largely sold out, a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each is available by lottery each day. Hopefuls can enter their names in person at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave., 2 1/2 hours before curtain, with the winners drawn 30 minutes later; limit two tickets each, cash only.