Wicked’s Return

The three week run of Wicked at Memphis’ Orpheum theatre was such a huge success that companies are willing and ready to bring it back. “We had almost 58,000 people here to see the show,” says Pat Halloran, President and CEO of The Orpheum. “That’s like filling the FedEx Forum three times.” It wasn’t just a huge success for the theatre, as restaurants, hotels and the general economy of the arena got an all around boost after the three weeks of “Wicked” fun saw visitors from all around the great state of Tennessee. Now as producers are in talks of bringing back the Broadway theatre show, the show just deomonstrates how much time and money people are willing to spend to get out of their economic state of depression. “In this tough economy, we’ve proven that people want to get out, they want to go see quality theatre,” Halloran continues. The show was sold out after its first week - as some analysts have deemed the “Twitter Effect,” where social networking has become so common that people are able to respond on an event within the first day, something that would typically take up to four days - and people are listening. The $4 million in ticket sales alone estimated $7 million into the relative economy. “I went into a restaurant…and all the waiters applauded. I thought I was the star of the show,” Halloran said, who is gearing for a return in 2010.

If you’re in the area, get ready for a return of Wicked with Wicked tickets today.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 17, 2009 - Post a comment

A ‘Wicked’ Return to Memphis

It may be still months away, but for theater’s around the nation that were able to feel the effects of “Wicked,” many are already gearing up for the return to such theaters for its national tour of 2010. One particular theater, The Orpheum Theatre, is preparing for the second run of Gregory Maguire’s musical, which shattered box office records when it performed the last time. Over 57,000 people saw Wicked when it performed from June 24 to July 12, 2009 with a demand constant throughout the entire three weeks, and even beforehand. With demands high even before “Wicked” opened, Pat Halloran, president of the theatre, began requiring in to the production of the show for a repeated in Memphis. “It’s been to St. Louis three times and they’re read for a fourth,” Halloran said to the BizJournals.com. “We’re juggling dates, but it’s definitely going to happen no later than fall 2010.” Halloran concluded that while producers at the Orpheum are eager to get the show running as soon as possible, it is not scheduled to interfere with the Orpheum 2009 Broadway season. “If they wait too long, a lot of the worry of not getting tickets is forgotten. We decided early that this is going to happen, so we scheduled some time around it.”

Get your Wicked Tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 16, 2009 - Post a comment

Roscioli Returning to Broadway

Dee Roscioli will return to the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production of “Wicked” when it appears at the Gershwin Theatre in July. Roscioli made her Broadway debut after playing the role of Elphaba for the finale two years of the musical’s Chicago production; she has also starred as Grizabella in the national tour of “Cats” and the NYSF Workshops of “Dangerous Beauty” and “Behind the Limelight.” The principal cast also includes Alli Mauzey as Glinda, Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, PJ Benjamin as the Wizard, Kevin Kern as Fiyero, Alex Brightman as Boq, Cristy Candler as Nessarose and Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond.

The Gershwin Theater has a Theater Hall of Fame painted inside a rotunda in the lobby and is an exclusive Broadway theater for large musicals. Such past productions (though Wicked has been on Broadway since October 2003) includes Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert, Something Good: A Broadway Salute to Richard Rodgers on his 100th Birthday, Oklahoma!, Riverdance on Broadway and Tango Argentino.

If you want to see this play or another from a different city, get your Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 14, 2009 - Post a comment

A ‘Wicked’ Return to Tulsa

Marcie Dodd goes green eight times a week - and she’s doing it not for the environment, but for the fans of Wicked, the musical that has her character, Elphaba, traveling the nation performing the show that caught them by storm. The show is the second national tour of the musical and will open in Tuesday for an encore engagement Wednesday until August 9th. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire as a prequel to the first color film with Judy Garland (”The Wizard of Oz”), the story follows two young girls in boarding school as they discover themselves and the world they live in - Elphaba, who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch. The two are extremely different (one is green and moody, the other blonde and perky) but form an uncomprimisable friendship that sees them through many challenges.

For Dodd’s role she must cover her face with a theatrical makeup that has a hue deemed “landscape green,” along with a purple and brown for contouring and finally a “golden olive” pigment to finish. ”We’ve gotten the makeup process down to a science,” Dodd said recently. “I have a ‘green team’ who collaborate to make this green girl happen. I wear a green bodysuit, and the makeup covers my face and hands. Once they’re finished, I look in the mirror and see the complete transformation.” Since premiering in October 2003, Maguire has said: “The most important thing about the book was not the plot…but the theme. The theme is how we demonize our enemies and how we are scared of people because they are unfamiliar. We then whittle away their capactiy for full humanity in order to justify our being suspicious of them.”

Get your Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 13, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked Taking Over NY

If you think you’re a Wicked Witch in the making, then check out the latest events in New York as Wicked fans are just as excited to see the show as the rest of the country! With events throughout the state, it is no wonder that the original made its way to the Broadway stages before long!

Check out the latest shows and events in New York, listed on the Wicked website and here:

8/22 Wicked at Long Branch Beach / Sandy Hook Beach, New Jersey

8/14 Wicked at Fire Island Ferries: Sayville, Bay Shore and Patchogue

8/08 Wicked at Point Pleasant Beach / Bay Head, New Jersey

8/01 Wicked at Lido Beach / Point Lookout, New York

7/25 Wicked at Belmar Beach / Spring Lake, New Jersey

7/11 Wicked at Midland Beach, Staten Island

As always there will be more updates as the days pass, but for now enjoy those Wicked tickets in the area!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 10, 2009 - Post a comment

Tulsa’s Wicked Treat

Tulsa is getting ready to preview Wicked at the Tulsa PAC center for four weeks. The show is presented by Celebrity Attractions and will perform 32 times, though August 9th. For many reasons, except for the most obvious, “Wicked” is seriously green. Except for the environmental term, Wicked’s main character Elphaba, later known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is a green color from the time of her birth (we learn as to why her color is the way it is at the end of the story) and the fact that the play has grossed the largest amount in comparison to any other American theater work. More than 17 million international audiences have seen the four North American and fourth international companies perform the show, resulting in $1.35 billion in ticket sales and more than $100 million in memorabilia.

Wicked will perform at 7:30 Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday, 8pm on Friday, 2 & 8pm on Saturdays, 2 & 7:30 no Sunday with a special matinee on July 16th at 1:30 and a hearing impaired version on August 2nd’s matinee. Wicked tickets remain hard to come by, so act quickly! ”There are still good seats available for the July 16 matinee and the July 19 evening show during the first week,” Dotson said to Tulsa World. “For the rest of the run, the best seats can be found on the weekday performances and Sunday evenings.”

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 9, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked at ASU Gammage

Students at ASU Gammage are really excited - as “Wicked” is back once again for another round of shows that are sure to please. The performances, which began July 1st and will continue through the 16th, is conducting a lottery drawing just like many other shows two and a half hours before the show time as the ASU Gammage Box office. With twenty orchestra seats avaliable for only $25 each, the perfect amount for all those struggling students. Just before opening night on Wednesday over 30 people shows up anxiously awaiting the lottery draw - according to ABC’s Arizona affiliate 15 Kathryn and Jenny Huisstede, the mother and daughter team, were the first winners - the pair had attempted three previous times to get Wicked tickets four years ago but had never prevailed. Next was father daughter team Todd and Katja Smeltzer who said “We’ll be back to do it again!”

“In this economy, this is the best price around,” said company manager of Wicked Steve Quinn. ASU Gammage is one of the largest university based performing arts centers in the world; localed on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, the building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was completed in 1962. It is the home of the M&I Bank Broadway Across America - Arizona series and the ASU Gammage Beyond Series.

Get your Wicked tickets today.

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 8, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked’s Magic in Memphis

For a musical based on a hit film, “Wicked” starts in an unusual way - as most fans are well aware that “Wicked” is the prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” the musical from Gregory Maguire begins with “You’ll never look at The Wizard of Oz the same way again after seeing this musical.” The play, currently performing at The Orpheum, transformed the small Memphis theatre into a world where monkeys fly, babies are born green and animals can talk. The infamous map of Oz as constructed by Maguire adorns the backdrop just before the animals come to life and begin to please the audience.

Opening in 2003 the show has been touring for years and this tim e around has been headlined by Marcie Dodd as Elphaba, Helene Yorke as Galinda with Carrie Manolakos as Dodd’s understudy. Much like the original stars (Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda), Yorke was full of comedy and sparkle that made her high-pitched voice the highlight of the evening. David de Vries performed the role of Doctor Dillamond, a goat who teaches at the school while Marilyn Caskey played Madama Morrible, a true portrait of evil. If you want to catch this act or others, get your Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 7, 2009 - Post a comment

‘Wicked’ Connections Worldwide

Former “Wicked” star Shoshana Bean may be in Vegas performing with the Peepshow cast, but she’s still got a lot of “Wicked” in her, as this week she performed with friend and composer Scott Alan, who recently released the album “Keys,” which Bean helped to promote. “I’ve defintely gotten lucky in my own career, but I remain a huge fan of all the great people I now get to work with. A few years ago I worked with someone I really admired and it was a terrible, miserable expereicne. So I made a pact with yself to only work with good people whom I admire and who treat me well in return.” The star is talking about working with people like Kerry Ellis, sutton Foster of Shrek and Megan Hilton of 9 to 5. The new star traveled to San Francisco for the first time to work at The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko where he’ll meet resident casts of Wicked. The singer has always been close to Wicked stars, like when he was suppossed to work with Eden Espinsoa, a Wicked member who should have been been on his last album; though she pulled out at last minute, it all worked out for the best.

See the great character of Wicked this year with Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 6, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked to Enjoy San Diego

Broadway San Diego and San Diego County Credit Union are proud to present Wicked at the Civic Theatre this summer! Perfomring from July 29th to August 30th at the downtown theatre (located a on Third Avenue at B Street), the show will excite Southern Californians as they enjoy the prequel to the infamous film “The Wizard of Oz.” Written by Gregory Maguire, the story follows Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West, also known as Elphaba, who attend grammar school together and must face the differences of their world in a world destroyed by the Wizard. The show is just one of many that Broadway San Diego will be able to enjoy this summer, as The Wiggles also perofmring this summer, along with Live Nation’s Doug Benson and Brian Posehn, and Fiddler on the Roof.

San Diego Civic Theatre is part of the non-profit organization San Diego Theaters, a public benefit corporation that manages performng arts in the city. The historic Balboa Theater in Gaslamp Quarter has been under reconstruction for several years; the organization was established in 2003 by San Diego Convention Center Corporation to position itself for growth and future independence. If you are a San Diego native and want to explore the city and help it grow, check out Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on July 2, 2009 - Post a comment


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