Gershwin Theater continues Broadway tradition with “Wicked” run

Although it’s only been open since 1972, the Gershwin Theater on Broadway and 51st Street in New York has become one of the most prominent venues of its time. Originally known as the Uris Theater, this 1,900-seat arena has housed many production, including “My Fair Lady” and “Annie,” but the most recent showing at the theater is “Wicked” which has been reviewed as the best new musical of its time. Telling the story of Glinda the Good Witch of the East and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West and how the unlikely pair of polar opposites became friends long before Dorothy dropped into Oz, “Wicked” has been playing at the Gershwin since August and will run through its tour until Sept. 30 of this year, according to the Gershwin Theater’s official Web site.

The Gershwin Theater is the largest of its kind on Broadway and therefore is usually the center for major musical productions and has played host to some of the most high-profiled actors, actresses and musicians, including Barry Manilow, Angela Lansbury and Kevin Kline. The theater was renamed in honor of composer George Gershwin in 1983 during the theater’s annual Tony Award broadcast. Now as “Wicked” plays at the famed theater, the cast is getting just as much attention as many of the other stars who have graced the theater’s stage, and rightfully so. The young Glinda, played by Kendra Kassebaum, who has broken into her Broadway career with her role in the production, leads a strong and talented cast of Julia Murney as Elphaba, Lenny Wolpe as the Wizard and Jane Houdyshell as Madame Morrible. For “Wicked” tickets, visit www.stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 17, 2007 - Post a comment

Broadway’s “Wicked” scores Tony Award winner and production veteran Shelley

Carole Shelley, an original Broadway cast member of “Wicked” who created the role of Madame Morrible, will return to the production Aug. 28, according to an Aug. 15 story on BroadwayWorld.com. The actress and London, England native won a Tony Award for best actress in a play for her role as Mrs. Kenadall in the 1979 production “The Elephant Man.” She was also nominated for Tony Awards in 1975 and 1987, for her roles in “Absurd Person Singular” and “Stepping Out” respectively. The Broadway star has also played in “Cabaret,” “Show Boat,” “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” “The Odd Couple” (NY Debut) and “The Miser,” and has made guest appearances on such TV shows as “The Cosby Show” and “Fraiser” and films such as “Bewitched.”

In “Wicked” the musical, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One has emerald-green skin and is fiery and smart, yet misunderstood. The other is beautiful, confident and very well-liked, and the production reflects the tale of how the two become unlikely friends and eventaully morph into the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the East, long before Dorothy ever drops into the picture. Written by Stephen Schwartz and based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, this production has been a hit in Broadway and across the country. For “Wicked” tickets, visit Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 16, 2007 - Post a comment

Thinking “Wicked?” Visit LA’s Pantages Theatre for the “wickedest” experience yet

If you haven’t seen “Wicked” the musical, you are probably living your life under a rock. All joking aside, the hit Broadway production has been turning heads and garnering major critical acclaim since it opened in New York in 2004. Now, three years later, the musical is still riding on the coattails of success and playing in both international and US theaters - and one of those is Los Angeles’s Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. What makes this theater so special? The historic building, constructed in 1930 for $1.25 million, was one of the most stunning venues of its time, hosting film premiers such as Judy Garland’s “A Star is Born” and later - in the 1950s - housing the annual Academy Awards ceremonies, according to the theater’s Web site.
The Emmy Awards were also held at the theater in 1977 but were then moved to Pasadena. Pantages’ stage has been graced by high-profile actors and actresses, such are Marie Osmond, Kevin Costner and Brooke Shields and in 1999, when the theater hosted the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, big time stars Julia Roberts, Will Smith and Minnie Driver made appearances. Most recently, celebs Tom Hanks, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Love Hewitt have been spotted at Pantages.

Over the years, Pantages has become one of the greatest landmarks in Hollywood. It is only fitting, then, that “Wicked” - which was dubbed “Best Musical of the Year” by Time Magazine - would be shown within this prestigious theater. The musical, which has been running at Pantages since June 2006 and will be open to spectators through  November of this year, tells the story of how Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch became friends and then eventually enemies long before Dorothy decided to drop into the land of Oz. To get your “Wicked” tickets, visit Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 15, 2007 - Post a comment

“Wicked” screen writer Schwartz says of Menzel’s Elphaba: “dilligent” and “hardest-working” performer

Idina Menzel, the actress who stars as Elphaba in the Broadway production of “Wicked” the musical, has been praised by almost every film critic in New York and then as she moved onto the London tour, at publications overseas. But the biggest form of flattery for Menzel, who won the 2004 Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical, was the feedback that Stephen Schwartz - the man behind the script for this play that chronicles happenings between Glinda the Good Witch of the East and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West in a land called Oz, long before Dorothy ever drops in! In a forum posting on Schwartz’s official Web site, the writer credits Menzel’s success to a great deal of hard work with vocal coaches. Although he said he wasn’t exactly sure about what went into that type of training, he adds: “I do know that although Idina’s performance style suggests that she is off-the-cuff and spontaneous, she is one of the most diligent and hardest-working performers I have ever worked with. (Of course, she also has an extraordinary vocal gift that she was born with, but she is smart about protecting it.)”

Menzel, who began her acting debut on Broadway in 1996 in the musical “Rent,” has also won the hearts of many with her roles in films such as “Kissing Jessica Stein” and “Camp.” She also starts in the movie “Enchanted” which is due in theaters November 2007 and the Broadway actress hasn’t stopped there. She recorded a duet with singer Ray Charles on his album “Genius and Friends,” which was produced after the singing phenomenon died. Moving into London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre, Menzel ended her latest endeavor, the “Wicked” tour, on a bang at the beginning of this year. An upcoming performance slated for Sept. 17 will feature Menzel on stage at Madison Square Garden - nothing new for this Broadway queen. For tickets to any of Menzel’s upcoming shows or to book your seats for Wicked tickets, visit www.StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 14, 2007 - Post a comment

London’s “Wicked” cast changes transforms dynamics

As “Wicked” the musical continues its reign in the U.S. in theaters from Los Angeles to New York, the play - based on the novel by Gregory Maguire - is also making waves across the Atlantic in London at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. The production, which debuted at the London theater in Sept. 2006, late last month obtained an entirely British cast, according to BroadwayWorld.com. In “Wicked,” a play written by Stephen Schwartz, the lives of Glinda The Good Witch of the East and Elphaba The Wicked Witch of the West, are chronicled up to the point before Dorothy stumbles upon the land of Oz. Glinda, once played by Helen Dallimore, was replaced in late July by Brit actress Dianne Pilkington. Pilkington, who has held roles such as Belle in Disney’s national tour of Beauty and the Beast, adds a more humorous feel to the simple gestures and comments that predecessor Dallimore did not pick up on, according to BroadwayWorld.com.

The London show is slated to run for another year and theater critics predict “Wicked” - which broke the West End Theater’s box office records last October when it grossed close to a million pounds and generated more than 18,000 spectators - will have continued success. As time dwindles down, make sure not to miss the chance to see this Broadway sensation. For “Wicked” tickets, visit www.StubHub.com

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2007 - Post a comment


Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 10, 2007 - Post a comment

Kassebaum continues to impress Broadway audiences

Debuting on Broadway at age 27, Kendra Kassebaum, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, never realized she would get as far as she has. Today, after portraying Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway production of “Wicked” for the past year, the 34-year-old actress has taken on a myriad of parts, including Mark’s mother in the production of “RENT,” as well as touring with “Grease” and “A Chorus Line. Nominated for the Helen Hayes award for Best Actress in a Regional Performance, Kassebaum lost to her Glinda predecessor, Stephanie J. Block, but the up and coming actress has persevered and steadily received outstanding reviews of her continued role as Glinda in “Wicked,” a musical that is also receiving critical acclaim from many prominent sources.

Ironically, Kassebaum, who fell in love with the Wizard of Oz when she was just a child, dreamed of playing the role of Glinda from day one and was thrilled at winning over the part last September. The actress, who won several theater awards in her high school years, including “Best Actress” at her graduation, can be seen playing her role as the Good Witch through November. For Wicked tickets, visit StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 10, 2007 - Post a comment

Chicago’s “Wicked” lands 20-year-old SoCal native as ‘Glinda’

As a little girl, Erin Mackey was always putting on productions with her sisters, Emily and Liz, that consisted of elaborate songs and dance, and not much has changed today. The 20-year-old Fullerton, California native scored the role as Glinda the Good Witch in the Chicago production of “Wicked” and the city is raving about her performance. In a Chicago Tribune review, play critic Chris Jones refers to Mackey as “remarkable” and writes “Chicago audiences get the chance to see a future Broadway star early in her career.”

Performing in musicals from Kindergarten through high school, Mackey was beginning to hone her talents and had taken on teh role as the milkmaid in “Brigadoon” when she was approached by a manager about auditioning for film and television in Los Angeles. After that things began moving fast and in 1998, Mackey starred as Lindsey Lohan’s double in the remake “The Parent Trap.” A musical theater major at Carnegie Mellon University, the youth only ended up attending her first year before she landed the job of swing cast member on the “Wicked” national tour. She had only been on board for seven months when she was moved in October 2006 into the lead role as Glinda, replacing actress Stacie Morgain Lewis. Mackey is the youngest actress to ever play the principal role of Glinda. For a chance to see Mackey star alongside this amazing Chicago cast, purchase Wicked tickets immediately at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 9, 2007 - Post a comment

Young rising star makes her mark as Glinda in “Wicked”

In a review by the Los Angeles Times, theater writer Charles McNutty calls actress Megan Hilty’s performance as Glinda the Good Witch “splendiferous” in the Broadway hit musical “Wicked,” which has been touring nationally through August 2008. Hilty, 24, a Bellevue, Washington, native, said she always wanted to be an opera singer growing up and pursued her dream through attending a performing arts high school and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The young and upcoming performer, who auditioned for the part of Glinda a week before her college graduation, said she saw the show for the first time the night before she tried out in front of the cast of “Wicked.”

“I just thought after seeing, ‘Wow – no one is going to be able to take over for Kristin [Chenoweth], least of all me,’” she said in an interview with Broadway.com. “ So, going into the audition, that must have been some sort of confidence builder. I never thought it would be me, so I had no nerves.”Hilty, who immediately moved to New York after she graduated, received a call from her agent letting her know she had scored the part of standby Glinda. She was on a bus back to Pittsburgh to sell her car when she heard the news and began yelling about to everyone else inside. Now, as she goes into the second year playing the part, Hilty has gained the exposure that she needed to score a part in the national tour is playing the part of Glinda in the LA series. And her reviews say it all. For tickets to “Wicked,” visit www.StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 8, 2007 - Post a comment

“Wicked” director wins award for recent play

Joe Mantello is well-known for winning three Tony Awards for his directions of big hit musicals “Wicked,” “Take Me Out” and “Assassins,” and some may still be talking about his work on the much talked-about “Vagina Monologues,” but not many realize that the 41-year-old talent is still pushing forward with his career in his newest endeavor, “Blackbird.”

The British hit, created by David Harrower, won best new play in February at London’s 2007 Laurence Olivier Awards honoring achievement in theatre, opera and dance. Starring Jeff Daniels (“Dumb and Dumber”) and Alison Pill (“The Lieutenant of Irishmore”), this drama tells the story of an illegal love affair that began between a man and girl, which results in dire consequences for both involved, according to a review written for CurtainUp.com.

Although the play was only in theaters through June, this production is another fine showing of Mantello’s talent, which he clearly proved in “Wicked,” the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the East met, became friends and split before Dorothy set foot in Oz. Unlike “Blackbird,” “Wicked” is still in theaters across the nation and is running through September 2008. Gaining positive feedback from play critics at the New York Times, Chicago Sun Times and the Toronto Star. For Wicked tickets at a theater near you, visit http://www.stubhub.com/wicked-tickets.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 7, 2007 - Post a comment


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