ACTOR Steven Pinder has taken on a range of genres, from long-running soap to murder mystery, but nothing comes close to his current role - as a goat.

Steven plays the dual roles of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Doctor Dillamond in smash hit show Wicked, which this week started a five-week run at the Alhambra. This is the only chance to see the show outside London this year, before it heads off to Singapore on an international tour.

An imaginative re-telling of The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is the story of how two friends came to be the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, the show presents a parallel universe to L Frank Baum's familiar tale. It's the untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University - the blonde and popular Glinda and a misunderstood girl called Elphaba, shunned by her own parents when she's born with green skin.

Following an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda's desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba's determination to remain true to herself, and those around her, have a shocking impact on her future.

The multi award-winning musical features a lively score by Oscar-winner Stephen Schwartz, including Defying Gravity and Popular.

Doctor Dillamond is a talking goat and professor at Shiz University. Assisted by Elphaba, he conducts research on genetic and sentience differences between animals. When Dillamond is discovered dead in his laboratory, the official line is that it's the result of an unfortunate lab accident, but a witness claims Dillamond was murdered to prevent him from publishing his breakthrough research.

"Three years at drama school and I end up playing a goat," smiles Steven. "He's an intellectual goat though! He's the first 'person' Elphaba connects with; Dillamond confides in her and had a lasting impact on her. There's a big persecution theme running throughout.

"Elphaba is bullied, because she looks different. She's green-skinned, for a start.""

Steven's other character is the Wizard, who turns out to be rather pathetic in the original tale. "He's only human," says Steven. "This is a show about people who have and don't have power. The first time I saw it, what stuck in my mind was the music and the incredible attention to detail."

Like many people, Steven has vivid childhood memories of The Wizard of Oz. "It was the first film my parents took me to in the 1960s, it was on a double bill with Tom Thumb," he says. "When it came out, in 1939, it was this burst of colour on cinema screens, there had been nothing else like it.

"Wicked is a great twist and shows the green witch in a new light. It's a role so closely linked to Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the film. Her performance was unforgettable, you'd think she was made for the role, but she was rushed in at the last minute because the actress originally due to play the witch had a reaction to the green skin dye!"

Steven's other theatre credits include Footloose, The Diary of Anne Frank and Private Lives, and on TV he has appeared in Hotel Babylon, Casualty and True Crime. He shot to fame as Max Farnham in Brookside, the white collar face of the Close who had three wives and countless dramas. Steven was in the Liverpool soap from 1990 to 2003, when he ended up married to Jacqui Dixon, daughter of his nemesis, Ron.

"It was pretty groundbreaking in its day. Maybe the reason it eventually came to an end was that it had burned its candle so brightly," says Steven.

"By the end there was a killer of some sort living in every house! It left a great legacy though, and made stars of people like Sue Johnston and Anna Friel."

* Wicked runs at the Alhambra until August 21. For tickets call (01274) 432000.