Wicked (Broadway Across Canada)

I first knew about WICKED (a fantastic musical) actually from JT. He was completely and utterly enthused with the idea of seeing this fantastic and mesmerizing musical. Now, you’ll have to understand, some cross-cultural references don’t quite apply, given that I had never seen Wicked (or any of its translations). But I’m thrilled that I will get to check it out, as Wicked will play Wednesday, June 1 – Sunday June 26, 2011 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Week 1 performances run, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, Sunday evening 7:30pm with Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 2pm matinees. Weeks 2, 3 and 4 performances run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8PM, Sunday evening at 7:30pm with Saturday and Sunday 2pm matinees. Ticket prices begin at $35.00. You can get tickets via Ticketmaster, all Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone 1-855-985-5000. There is an 8-ticket limit per patron.

WICKED, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney’s Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirty something”), is based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. WICKED is set to make its Vancouver premiere starting Wednesday, June 1st.

The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues) and features musical staging by Tony® Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). From the information I received, WICKED is the winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy® Award and 3 Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz. It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

Here is the synopsis of Wicked:

Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winning Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee® Kenneth Posner (Tony® Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King). Stephen Oremus is the show’s music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

Called “a cultural phenomenon” by Variety and named “the defining musical of the decade” by The New York Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently seven productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.

I hope everyone gets a chance to see Wicked, as from the information I received, it was quite likely that it was going to be sold-out. And no wonder, considering how much fun it looks. As mentioned above, you can get tickets by phone or via Ticketmaster. I can’t wait to check this one out.

UPDATE - I was just informed that a day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from June 1 – 26 at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Each day, 2 hours prior to show time people who present themselves at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre box office will have their names placed in a lottery drum and then thirty minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person. Winners must be present (with valid photo ID) when their names are called or they forfeit their tickets.

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3. Wicked (in Vancouver, at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Broadway Across Canada) – theatre review
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