The Broadway tour of “Wicked” is coming to the Overture Center in Madison this fall.

“It’s really exciting that right on the heels of ‘Lion King’ we’re getting another top blockbuster multiweek musical in the fall,” said Overture President and CEO Tom Carto. “That’s going to give us good momentum for letting this region know that first-class Broadway is here to stay in Madison.”

“Wicked” is set to run Sept. 21 through Oct. 10, eight shows per week. A Stephen Schwartz musical based on the book by Gregory Maguire, it tells the “untold” story of the witches of Oz.

The show will run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 10 at Overture Center.

The show’s ticket prices and a complete performance schedule will be announced later, according to Overture officials.

The Wizard would have said to pay no attention to the 78 men and women behind the curtain of the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Feb. 16. And he would have been telling the truth.

The people on stage were stagehands, not performers, making way for the smash musical “Wicked,” which begins a three-week run at the Schuster on Wednesday night, Feb. 17.

There was little drama involved, according to representatives of the country’s number-one touring production.

“Things are going really well. This is a great new venue for us,” company manager Erica Norgaard said, standing beneath the huge dragon that had already been installed over the stage. It’s a dominant feature of the set for a show that includes witches, flying monkeys and a special floor with tracks, fog and smoke elements built right in.

The move-in is a three-day process. Trucks started rolling in Monday, Feb. 15, and the unloading will continue until Wednesday afternoon.

Ken Rice, business manager for the Dayton stagehands union, said he has expanded his crew with a dozen student apprentices from Wright State University.

Most veteran backstage workers said as musicals go, “Phantom of the Opera” is bigger, but “Wicked” is big. “It’s a 9 on a scale of 10,” said Pat Keough, who is production and technical director for the Schuster and the Victoria Theatre.

One reason things are going so smoothly is that planning started more than three months ago. Keough said technicians from the show visited the Schuster to study logistics.

“Wicked” will be presented through March 7 at the Schuster, Second and Main streets. Tickets are $46-$125. There is also a lottery for 20 tickets, each priced at $25, starting two and one-half hours before each performance.

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Wicked Broadway grossed $1,359,810 for the week ending February 14, 2010. Wicked Again occupies the top place in the list.

Below are the Top 10 Grosses from BroadwayWorld.com for the week ending February 14, 2010.

Wicked $1,359,810
The Lion King $1,213,222
Billy Elliot: The Musical $1,109,442
West Side Story $1,012,095
Jersey Boys $986,753
A Little Night Music $917,526
Mary Poppins $837,224
A View from the Bridge $791,116
Mama Mia! $771,095
In the Heights $740,580

Lee Mead

Award-winning West End leading man, Lee Mead, is to star as Fiyero in the London production of Wicked.

Any Dream Will Do sensation Lee Mead is to return to the West End after landing a role in hit show Wicked. The star – who headed the cast in Joseph And the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – will join the cast on May 10 to play the part of Fiyero. He said: ‘I’m really excited to be returning to the West End in this incredible show. Fiyero is a fantastic part.’

Wicked, now in its fourth year at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre, has been seen by more than 2.5 million people, and tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz.

Another new addition to the cast is Julie Legrand, best known to TV audiences as crazed nurse Jeanette Dunkley from Footballers’ Wives. She joins the cast on March 29.

Wicked is currently showing at London’s Apollo Victoria. Buy your Wicked Tickets now and save $20 on your next order over $250.

The national tour of Wicked is set to play at Dayton’s Victoria Theatre beginning February 17th and will run through March 7th.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award®-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”), Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is directed by two- time Tony® Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, 9 to 5) and features musical staging by Tony® Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…).

Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked, winner of 26 major awards, including a Grammy® and three 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. 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, and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Wicked has “cast quite a spell” (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called “a cultural phenomenon” by Variety and “the best musical of the decade” by Entertainment Weekly, Wicked continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of Wicked worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and an Australian production. A Dutch-language production of Wicked will open in 2011.

Wicked features set design by Tony® Award winner EuGene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty (Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony® nominee Kenneth Posner (Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King and the recent Man of La Mancha). Stephen Oremus is the show’s musical director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

Grammy Award-Winning Cast recording available on Decca Broadway. For more information about Wicked, Please visit http://www.wickedthemusicalticketsonline.com/

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Wicked has increased its booking period by 6 months – tickets are now on sale to 30 April 2011.

Wicked opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre 27 Sep 2006, following previews from 7 Sep – to reasonable notices from the popular press: THE EVENING STANDARD says, “Remarkable kaleidoscope of magical shocks, surprises and sensations. Wicked works like a dream.”THE INDEPENDENT says, “I enjoyed very little. ” THE GUARDIAN says, “Efficient, knowing and highly professional but more like a piece of industrial product than something that genuinely touches the heart or mind.” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, “Witty, enjoyable” THE TIMES says, “Songs bang out, along with iffy lyrics and not-so-witty dialogue.”

The London production has been seen by over 2.5 million people and taken in excess of £90 million at the UK Box Office.

There is a new full cast from 29 March 2010, including Rachel Tucker (Elphaba) and Louise Dearman (Glinda), Lewis Bradley (Fiyero to 8 May, then Lee Mead takes over), Julie Legrand (Madame Morrible), Clive Carter (The Wizard), Cassandra Compton (Nessarose), Julian Forsyth (Doctor Dillamond), George Ure (Boq).

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman.

It is directed by Joe Mantello, scenic design by Eugene Lee, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Kenneth Posner, sound by Tony Meola, orchestrations by William David Brohn, musical staging by Wayne Cilento and is directed by Joe Mantello.

Two girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, feisty and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very, very popular. Wicked is the story of these two unlikely friends and how they end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Book Tickets to Wicked in Apollo Victoria Theatre, London.

Lee Mead is set to return to the West End for a roll as Fiyero in London’s Wicked performance. Mead, who is a veteran of the West End with a performance in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is set to join the Gregory Maguire story in May. The date he would have returned to the set would have been much earlier had it not been for his wife’s due date – Denise Van Outen is set to give birth to their first child.

Mead has toured the UK with Oscar Wilde’s Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime and will return to London for what he calls “a fantastic part.” “I’m really excited to be returning to the West End in this incredible show.” The show will see Mead May 10th. Executive Producer of the show added this: ”With a wealth of musical theatre experience already under his belt, Lee was, from the outset, the one to watch in the BBC’s Any Dream Will Do. His much deserved win and subsequent performance in Joseph proved that he was an outstandingly talented leading man. I am really delighted that he has now chosen to make his return to the West End as Fiyero in Wicked alongside a fantastic new cast that will take us into our fifth year.”

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Australia’s favourite musical is about to reveal a new star. In March, Wicked will welcome Elisa Colla for her professional debut in the role of Nessarose, sister of Elphaba.

Only 21 years of age, Elisa graduated from the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) in 2009 and is thrilled to be cast in the role of Nessarose. While at AIM she appeared in the musicals Promises, Promises and Dusty: The Original Pop Diva, and her previous musical credits include Grease, Oklahoma! and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Elisa said, “I feel so lucky to be cast in this extraordinary show as my first professional musical. It is so magical! I can’t wait to slip into Nessarose’s costume and be a part of this glorious production.”

Penny McNamee, who has played Nessarose for more than 18 months since Wicked first opened in Melbourne in July 2008, is leaving the show to return to work in film and television. After performing Nessarose in almost 650 shows and winning a Green Room Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Penny says she is going to miss her Wicked family. “I’m taking away such wonderful friendships from this show,” she said.

Wicked Australia Co-Producer John Frost is delighted to welcome Elisa to the cast. “Elisa is a wonderfully talented young performer with a brilliant future. We conducted some of the most extensive auditions ever undertaken in Australia to find the best performers for Wicked, and we were lucky enough to find Elise right under our noses in Sydney. She will make a beautiful new Nessarose. I sincerely thank Penny for her significant contribution to making Wicked such a unique cultural phenomenon in Melbourne and now in Sydney.”

Wicked has won 26 major awards including three Tony Awards®, a Grammy® Award and six Helpmann Awards® including Best Musical.

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Wicked Will Fly Back Into Chicago in Late 2010 for The Holidays

The green girl is preparing to fly back to Chicago. “Wicked,” the musical that set box office records during its 3-1/2-year residency at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, will make a return engagement here in time for the 2010 holiday season.

The Broadway show about what happened in Oz before Dorothy arrived had a hit sitdown run at Chicago’s Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, for almost four years. (A national company christened Chicago and moved on, with the producing leaving behind a resident company.) The national tour will be the return company, to play the Cadillac Palace Theatre at 151 W. Randolph. This time around, the show, set to run eight weeks only (Dec. 1 through Jan. 23, 2011). Tickets will go on sale to Broadway In Chicago subscription series holders and groups on Feb. 23, with individual tickets coming available at a later date to be announced.

The Stephen Schwartz-Winnie Holzman musical about “the untold story of the witches of Oz,” will feature the national touring cast.

“We are thrilled to host the return of Wicked. The requests from our patrons for this show to come back to Chicago have been overwhelming,” said Lou Raizin, president of Broadway In Chicago.

• “Wicked” uses 200 pounds of dry ice per show.

• Its electronics department uses enough power to supply approximately 12 houses and uses 4-5 miles of cable on the tour.

• The dragon eyes are red LED bulbs that never burn out, and the dragon’s wingspan is the same as a Cessna 172.

• The 70 wigs the show uses at every performance are of human hair, individually made for each actor using his or her own hairline in front.

• “Wicked” has grossed a combined total of nearly $1.3 billion for its four North American companies and has been seen by 20 million people worldwide.

• “Wicked” has won 26 major awards, including the Grammy, Tony and Drama Desk, including Best Musical.

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