San Diego Native Comes to Play Glinda, the Good Witch
For San Marcos native Chandra Lee, performing on Broadway for five years as the good witch Glinda was a dream, but now she will really be enjoying the spotlight when she comes to her home town for the first time, performing at the San Diego Civic Theatre as she takes over the role of Glinda in the national tour of “Wicked.” She was thrilled that she landed the part she first auditioned for in 2004 after the 1999 graduate had previously been ‘too young,’ by casting agents. “I’m really so happy to be doing this in my hometown,” she said in a phone interview before rehearsals to the North County Times. “It’s as if the stars have aligned correctly.”
Born and raised in San Marcos, she did some acting in the city’s Theatre West youth drama company before spending her teenage years singing with a band. She graduated from high school and performed at Palomar College, THEATRX and PATH theatre before moving to New York to begin a professional career. She found success quickly there, working at Gateway Playhouse and landing a speaking role alongside Bernadette Peters in the Broadway revival “Gypsy.” Later she starred as Penny in the national tour of “Hairspray” and Sharpay in “High School Musical’s” national tour. ”I consider myself a comic actress, and this is a nice soprano part. It’s kind of rare to find those kinds of roles because usually the comic roles are low and belty,” she said. ”There’s a certain outline I have to follow for continuity, but they’re very encouraging about making her my own,” she said. “I’m still just getting to know Glinda, but I think of her as a very loving, vivacious person who’s dynamic and who people flock to. What are viewed by others as her faults —- that she’s shallow and conceited —- are just who she is and how she’s been raised. During the course of the show, she gets to the see the other side of things and she changes through her relationship with Elphaba.”
Wicked’s Composer Celebrated
San Marcos native Chandra Lee Schwartz, who played Sharpay in the national tour of “High School Musical,” will step out as glinda August 21st during the Wicked run in San Diego.
Stephen Schwartz, the musical director and five time Tony nominee for his scores of Pippin, Godspell, Working, Wicked and lyrics for Rags,will be celebrated during the closeing night concert of the Festival of the New American Musicals in Los Angeles on August 22nd. The 3-6pm closing party and concert is directed by Scott Schwartz and will feature Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tony nominees Peter Gallagher and Susan Egan, Graham Phillips, David Burnham, and songwriter Georgia Stitt, all of whom will perform Schwartz’s songs. The stage a few days later will house a free Bubble Boy readings, presented at the Disney Commissary at 8pm. As the Tony and Academy Award winning director will be announced, Wicked tickets will continue to show off his talent so make sure that you get some today. It is a great show!
There’s a New Witch in Town
Chandra Lee Schwartz will be taking over the role of Glinda the Good Witch on August 21 for the Wicked play that has taken over the Southern California town of San Diego - the San Diego Civic Center will welcome Schwartz in a role that she has perfected on other stages including Damn Yankees, Off-Broadway, Go-Go Beach in New York, Hairspray in Las Vegas, But I’m a Cheerleader in New York and Gypsy on Broadway as well as the Broadway Reival.
Schwartz will be joining the cast when it opens at the San Diego Civic Center through the end of the month, along with Donna Vivino (Elphaba), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Madame Morrible), Lenny Wolpe (The Wizard), Richard H. Blake (Fiyero), Ben Liebert (Boq), Amanda Rose (Nessarose), Paul Slade Smith (Dr. Dillamond), Todd Anderson, Terra Lynn Arrington, Kevin Aubin, Luis Avila, Antonette Balestreri, Stefanie Brown, Dominic Giudici, Brenda Hamilton, Courtney D. Jones, Spencer Jones, Ryan Patrick Kelly, Renee Lawless-Orsini, Philip Dean Lightstone, Marissa Lupp, RJ Marshall, Lauren Masiello, Lesley McKinnell, Kevin McMahon, Robert Pendilla, Christopher Russo, Adam Sanford, Robert Spaniolo, Stephanie Torns, Shanna VanDerwerker, Jessica Walker, Betsy Werbel, Bryan West, Blake Whyte, and Samantha Zack.
See how she does while enjoying San Diego’s beaches, with Wicked tickets today!
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.
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!
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.”
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!
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!
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!
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!
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