Seattle Ready for a ‘Wicked’ Welcome

Get ready, Seattle. If you’ve been following the “Broadway Across America - Seattle” on Twitter or watching the Billboards that have been recently been posted around town, as repots a Seattle Theater Examiner, then changes are you’ve noticed some serious promotion for Wicked, the next big show hitting town with Wicked tickets already going fast for the second time apperances at Paramount Theater, beginning September 2nd.

Not the only show that is coming into town (lucky Seattletheater goers!), subscription drives are finishing up this month, releasing single ticket sales for fans who would like a better deal. Seattle’s Paramount Theatre is owned and operated by Seattle Theatre Group, a 501 non profit arts organization that makes a point to develop diverse performing arts and education an integral part of the region’s cultural identify. The theater was built in 1928 via Beaux-Arts design, to house film and vaudeville. Annually the venue presents more than 370 international, national and regional performances every day of the year, from Broadway to off-Broadway, dance, opera and jass. Past engagements have included Mel Brooks’ new musical Young Frankenstein, Tony Bennett, Jerry Seinfeld, Maya Angelou, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, Heart, Bruce Springsteen, Phatom of the Opera, “Riverdance,” and many more.

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

Help Students to See Wicked at Village East Elementary School in Aurora, CO

A recent article in the Denver newspaper really touches hearts:

Help Village East 5th graders to attend ‘Wicked’

I am a 5th grade teacher in a highly impacted public school in Aurora. In an effort to connect students to literature and performing art, my students recently completed a unit of study in which we compared the characters, themes, and authors purpose in The Wizard of Oz to those of the musical play, Wicked. I have taught this unit before, but was astounded by my student’s connections, high level of engagement, and community building that this project afforded them.

Since a national touring production of Wicked is scheduled to play Denver in October and November, I thought that it would be an invaluable experience to take my class and parents to a performance. Having researched group ticket sales through DCPA, it is possible for my kids to see this story on the main stage for $33/ticket. However, because of the socio-economic status of many of my students’ families, the price tag is too great. I am writing in order to pursue a fund-raising opportunity. These funds could allow a group of students to experience the power of a shared human story; we have all felt the effects of feeling different. Because this story is told through the medium of music and drama, it is an experience that without outside financial support will be impossible.

I feel so passionate about this because of my own background in theater, and know first-hand that the arts have the power to transform the lives of at-risk kids into a journey that is positive, productive, and safe. If I can ask 1000 people in Denver to contribute $1, I can take my students to see this show for only $8/ticket, making it possible for these students to be exposed to an idea, to art, to possibilities that are in their future. If you can be of any assistance, please contact me. DCPA is asking that the tickets I have on hold be paid for by the end of August. Thank you for your time and considering that such a small amount can collectively allow my students to experience something magical. I became a teacher because I believe, as in the words of Stephen Schwartz, that “Everyone deserves the chance to fly,” regardless of where they come from or the limits they may encounter.

Daniel Dillard

If you want to help out, check out Wicked tickets today!

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

Elphaba’s Background

Dee Roscioli is a local star to her Easton town - as she plays the infamous character Elphaba on the Chicago stage of Wicked. The Wilson Area High School grad made her Broadway debut as Elphaba and is now talking to her local newspaper The Express Times about her days as a cackling, pointy hat donning star. ”(Elphaba) is not the villain. I think that’s what makes the show so special, that it takes that identity and plays on it and switches it around,” Roscioli says over the phone in a rather warm and un-witchy demeanor. “It teaches you to not always take things at face value. You don’t always get what you see.” Rather, Elphaba becomes the character you root for, as you learn that instead of the green blob that turns up on the floor after Dorothy spills water, she tricks Oz and goes off to enjoy her love.

Now 32, she got her start at the Performer’s Studio in Palmer Township. Performing at several school plays before heading off to DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township, she moved to New York and landed tgigs in the national touring production of “Cats” and finally the Chicago show “Wicked.” ”I think now that making it on Broadway there’s a new excitement and adrenaline rush with it. I had about a six-month break and I think that was enough for me. I’m happy to come back. I feel fresh again and I’m still finding new things every time I do the show.”

See how she does during her time on Broadway as Elphaba, with Wicked tickets today.

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

The Sequel to Wicked On Stage

Though it isn’t the Broadway musical that is coming to the stage, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz,” the story which “Wicked” is based off of, will premiere at the Olivette Community Center through the Summer Theatre Camp 2009. With composition done by Harold Arlen and EY Harburg’s via the Over Due Theare Company, the stage is set by young theater afficiando’s looking for their big break on the stage. The story is all too familiar, though the actors are not. Katie Lynn McGowan plays Dorothy and can actually belt out the tune “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” With help from Devon Norris as the Scarecorw, Thom Bell as the Cowardly Lion and Mark Saunders as te Tin Man, with Tom Kopp as the Professor Marvel and the Wizard, Anne Marie McGowan as Glinda, the Good Witch and Lori Gibson as the Wicked Witch/Almyra Gultch.

Director of all things children, Wayne Mackenberg easily rounds up the crew at the Olivetter Community Center, with help from choreographer Anne McGowen and Devon Norris, and the musical directon of Catherine Edwards Kopf’s.

If you want to check out this play, visit StubHub; if you want to see the prequel to this beloved story, there is only one way - Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 12, 2009 - Post a comment

No Loss After Lambert’s Gone

Former American Idol star Adam Lambert is still getting press time though he was runner up during this season of the show, and interviewers are still asking him about his time on the Los Angeles touring show ‘Wicked,” where he played the understudy for Fiyero as well as an ensemble member. Staying for the entire Los Angeles run (he had left the touring company for other, musical opportunities), he said to the Los Angeles Times: “I heard they were rehiring for the Los Angeles company of “Wicked,” and it had been about a year since I had been out of the touring company. They were going to form a new company and I thought, “I don’t know why I left. That was so stupid. I need to get that job.” And so I begged. They said, “Why did you leave? We don’t know if you’re just going to leave again. It’s a liability for us.” I told them, “No, no, no. I was stupid. I was lonely on tour. I wasn’t satisfied and had outside opportunities. I really want to be in a sit-down company and then I can work on all my outside stuff and still work on the show,” and they said fine. So I came back and I opened the L.A. company of “Wicked…It was a great job, and it was nice to have money again in the city and live my life. There was a producer I started working with. He was forming his own publishing company for placement in film and TV and adversising campagins, so they hired me to be a songwriter.”

Now on to bigger and better things, Wicked tickets aren’t hurting since seeing the loss of Lambert, as Eric Mackey opens tonight on Broadway for her debut as Glinda and more, so don’t miss out!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 11, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked’s Long Lost Story

At some point or another we have all loved The Wizard of Oz story, as it follows the central characters around Oz trying to find the recluse wizard who doesn’t really help with their problems in the end. Some really dedicated fans might have attempted the film “Return to Oz,” a film starring Fairuza Balk and Nicol Williamson as Dorothy once again must find her friends in Oz after she’s saved from a psychiatric experiment that her Aunt Em sent her to since she wasn’t able to sleep since returning from Oz. Though it’s poorly made and something truly out of the ’80s, the story retains its classic fable just like the Broadway musical “Wicked.” Though much darker and a bit more deep, the story is still just as magical as the first film and story by L. Frank Baum.

Though rather than focusing solely on the story everyone knows, “Wicked” doesn’t spend too much time on the “Dorothy complex” as they deem it, which eventually changes everything about the area. Instead, Gregory Maguire follows the two central characters that make up Oz prior to Kansas’ own arrival - the Wicked Witch and Glinda, who befriend each other years prior while at school. See what you think about the story with Wicked tickets today!

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

Wicked Talks from Former Star

American Idol favorite Adam Lambert recently sat down with the Los Angeles Times to talk about his theater experiences, one of which was Wicked.  ”WICKED happened right after the Zodiac show. Toward the end of our run on “Ten Commandments,’ there was an audition for the first national company and the casting director had heard of me because of the reviews for “Ten Commandments.” That really set me up for that. I don’t think I would have gotten hired if it hadn’t been for that. I was hired as an understudy for Fiyero on the national tour and we rehearsed in New York and that was a blast. It was a great moment for me because I felt like I’d finally arrived. Even though it was the tour, it was a Broadway production. It was the highest caliber thing that I had been a part of. “Ten Commandments” wanted to be that and had all this money behind it, but it was a disaster. So this was a successful hit show that I was now a part of and it felt validating to get that job.

“I was an onstage cover. And we rehearsed it in Toronto for about a month before we opened and we ran there for about 2½ months. So I spent time in Toronto and then we went to Chicago. Spent a couple of months there and then here in L.A. a couple months and then San Francisco. And at that point, it was about six months into it and I felt, “I think I’m done,” and I got to this point where I thought, “This is what I’ve been working toward my whole high school career and my early 20s. This has been the goal, Broadway,” and I knew that I could probably go into the New York production the minute a track opened up but I wasn’t satisfied. Probably because I was in the ensemble. I’m not going to lie. It was probably a step down from “The Ten Commandments” situation. Bigger show but not as featured, not as much attention. Not doing what I felt I was supposed to be doing.”

Get your Wicked tickets today!

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

Wicked’s New Additions and Return to Texas

Alli Mauzey is stepping down from her Broadway role of Glinda the good witch as Erin Mackey takes over starting August 11, 2009. This will be her debut on Broadway of the role after performing the role in both the Chicago and Los Angeles productions. Just a week later, as reported yesterday, Nessarose will find another new face on Broadway as the original actress, Mihcelle Federer, will return to the role taking over for Cristy Candler. Mackey has appeared in the Chicago, Los Angeles, and touring productions of the show while Federer has worked as Julia Roberts’ standby for the Broadway production of “Three Days of Rain,” and off Broadway show including “Boys Life,” and “A Man of No Importance.” Though doubtful that the two actress will play the role until Wicked is slated to close it’s dorrs at the Gershwin Theatre, the show has kept its booking through May 2010.

Meanwhile, halfway across the country, the national tour of the show returns to Austin this week for a three week run. The show opened yesterday at the Bass Concert Hall on the University of Texas campus and will run through August 30th. Though most Wicked tickets are technically sold out, the lottery is in full affect for orchestra seats, with patrons arriving 2 1/2 hours before the show to win a chance to see the show.

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

New Additions for Wicked

Playbill recently announced that Michelle Federer, the actress who created the role of Nessarose in the original Broadway production of “Wicked,” will return to the show later this month at the Gershwin Theatre. Federer will similarly return to the role that made her famous, as Elphaba’s wheelchair sister following Cristy Candler. Just a few days before the Nessarose transition, the same play will see a similar one in Glinda, as Erin Mackey will succeed Alli Mauzey in the role originally created by Kristin Chenoweth. The cast also includes Dee Roscioli as Elphaba, Tony Award winner Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Kevin Kern as Fiyero, Alex Brightman as Boq and Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond.

Federer made her Broadway debut in “Wicked” and was an understudy in the “Three Days of Rain” revival. “She appeared in the Lincoln Center Theater production of A Man of No Importance and was also seen Off-Broadway in Boys Life, Anon and In the Absence of Spring. Her regional credits include Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Water Children, The Trip to Bountiful, Hay Fever and Closer.”

Erin Mackey has appeared on screen for “The Parent Trip,” “Do Over” and “Family Affair.”

If you want to catch these two actress perform their show starting this month, check out Wicked tickets today!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 5, 2009 - Post a comment

Wicked Under the Covers

As “Wicked” is currently in San Diego  performing the show at the Civic Theatre, the cast thought it would take a night off and get ‘under the covers’ for an evening to benefit the Being Alive San Diego and Broadeway Cares / Equity Fights Aids Foundations with a one night only event deeemd “Wicked Under the Covers.” An evening full of caberet performances led off by some of the company members of Wicked, including Glinda (Katie Rose Clarke), Fiyero (Richard H. Blake) and Elphaba Standby (Merideth Kaye Clark), the company will perform (as they are producing) some of their favorite music at the Baja Betty’s, a Gay Mexico Restaurant. Also in support of the event, there will be live and silent auction items as well as a chance to bid on Wicked show related items and a chance to join the company backstage at the Civic Theatre.

The admission to get into “Wicked Under the Covers” is $25 in donation and will be available through the door - but if you miss out on this, check out Wicked tickets today as the show will be playing through August in the city!

Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on August 4, 2009 - Post a comment


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