Despite a lackluster economy and soaring unemployment the musical “Wicked” is still defying gravity.

On its third pass through Pittsburgh as a presentation of PNC Broadway Across America — Pittsburgh the show has already sold all but a few tickets for its four-week run at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

The Broadway production continues to sell out most performances, eight years after its debut. The two national tours and four international companies have similar success.

Gregory Maguire’s dark, contrarian tale turns the Oz you thought you knew inside out, exposing the politics, prejudice and personalities of Frank L. Baum’s Ozians in a not-so-merry-old land of Oz.

Dorothy is a minor, off-stage presence in this story that focuses on the coming of age and dawning rivalries between Elphaba (AKA the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda (the good witch) that took place long before Dorothy Gale dropped her Kansas farm house on Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose.

Stephen Schwartz’s intense, soaring music and lyrics allow characters to vent their emotions in ways that connect with audiences. Not everything is perfect, of course.

In the first half Natalie Daradich’s Glinda is more stridently than comedicaly annoying and her perkiness wears thin fast. You do grow to feel sympathy for her more mature and resigned second act adult personality.

As the third point in the love triangle David Nathan Perlow’s appealing Fiyero makes the greatest journey from arch playboy to committed revolutionary.

Winnie Holzman’s stage adaptation of Maguire’s novel streamlines the story so that it’s accessible without dumbing it down or eliminating Maguire’s more serious messages. Moreover “Wicked” continues to deliver value for the money.

The producers and creative team have bejeweled and bedazzled the story with an overlay of glittery, glowing candy for the eye and ear. More importantly it’s a well-maintained production that holds up despite its time on the road.

Set designer Eugene Lee, lighting designer Kenneth Posner and costume designer Susan Hilferty create an lavish alternate universe that alternates between turning ominous cogs and wheels of clockwork gadgetry and the upbeat sparkle of a brightly antiseptic yet splendiferous greenified Emerald City.

Treachery, betrayal, love triangles and political skullduggery thrive against a background of menacing cogs and wheels while a humungous red-eyed dragon hovers over the proceedings.

Read the complete review {Via PittsburghLive.com}

Wicked will be performing in Pittsburgh, PA till October 02, 2011. Buy Wicked Benedum Center Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

The blockbuster musical “Wicked” is making its third appearance in Detroit over the holidays this year December 2011. Wicked will be returning to Detroit on December 07 and plays through December 31, 2011. This is a return engagement at Detroit Opera House of the hit show. The production consistently sells out across North America.

Wicked is all about the green witch, Elphaba, the good witch Glinda, and how they meet and why she becomes the wicked witch of the west and it’s about their friendship. So it’s a really great story about friendship and judging people by the colour of their skin since she’s green.

Wicked will be performing until Saturday, December 31, 2011 at Detroit Opera House. Buy Wicked Detroit Michigan Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

The splendiferous Emerald City rises again as Wicked returns for a third stay at the Benedum Center as a presentation of PNC Broadway Across America – Pittsburgh. Wicked will start the performances at Benedum Center on Wednsday, September 07, 2011 and continues through Sunday, October 02, 2011.

The show has proved wildly popular on Broadway where it still plays to full houses eight years after its debut and on the road where it has broken box-office records in every city that the national tour has played.

This blockbuster Broadway musical wraps visual spectacle and a smart songbook of Stephen Schwartz’s music around Gregory Maguire’s dark, contrarian tale of the politics, prejudices and personalities in a not-so-merry-old land of Oz.

Given the darkness and complexity of the subject matter and the length of the performance (2 hours and 45 minutes), it’s not appropriate for those younger than 8.

Wicked Benedum Center Performance Schedule:
Tuesdays to Thursdays – 7:30 p.m
Fridays – 8 p.m.
Saturdays – 2 and 8 p.m.
Sundays – 1 and 6:30 p.m
Thursday September 08 – 1 p.m.

Wicked runs until October 02, 2011 at the Benedum Center. Buy Wicked Pittsburgh PA Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

Wicked musical is currently performing at Mortensen Hall Bushnell Theatre in Hartford, CT and Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, MB Canada. From here the Wicked Musical Tour moves to Pittsburgh PA and Atlanta GA.

The back story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) from “The Wizard of Oz,” based on Gregory Maguire’s fanciful book and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch.

Do not worry if you could not get the tickets from Theatre box offices, even you need not wait in the long lines. Buy Wicked Tickets Online and Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350 by using the Code AFF$10.

Visit for the complete Wicked Musical Tour update.

The national tour of the blockbuster musical, Wicked is currently performing at Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford. This is a return engagement at the Bushnell of the hit show, now in its eighth year on Broadway, and still the top-grossing show there.

The back story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) from “The Wizard of Oz,” based on Gregory Maguire’s fanciful book and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch.

All the bells, whistles and flying monkeys are here. Solid performing throughout — especially Dee Roscioli as Elphaba and Amanda Jane Cooper as Glinda. Roscioli has the right dry take to deliver Winnie Holzman’s sardonic lines for the outcast character. She also has the pipes to deliver the emotionally rich big notes that composer Stephen Schwartz sprinkles throughout the show. Cooper is a hoot as the self-centered Glinda but also goes deeper as we see the character grow from good-time girl to someone with a moral center. Nice jobs, too, by Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, Mark Jacoby as the Wizard (has the role ever been as well sung?) and Colin Hanlon as Fiyero.

Read the complete review Via {courant.com}

Wicked runs until September 11, 2011 at the Mortensen Hall Bushnell Theatre. Buy Wicked Hartford CT Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

Broadway Mega Hit Musical, Wicked’s main cast Teal Wicks and Katie Rose Clarke will be replaced by Jackie Burns and Chandra Lee Schwartz. Direct from the show’s first national tour, Burns and Schwartz will join the Broadway company on September 27 for their roles as Elphaba and Glinda respectively.

Jackie Burns and Chandra Lee Schwartz to join Wicked Broadway company

Jackie Burns has appeared on Broadway in Hair as part of the “Black Boys” trio. Off-Broadway, she was in the original company of Rock of Ages and appeared in Unlock’d at New York Musical Theatre Festival. Her regional credits include Grand Night For Singing and more.

Chandra Lee Schwartz appeared on Broadway in Gypsy with Bernadette Peters, and in the Las Vegas production of Hairspray. Other credits include Disney’s High School Musical; Nerds, the Musical; Copacabana and the NYMF production of But I’m a Cheerleader.

Burns and Schwartz will join a company that currently features Richard H. Blake as Fiyero, Kathy Fitzgerald as Madame Morrible, Tom McGowan as The Wizard, Etai BenShlomo as Boq, Cristy Candler as Nessarose and Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond.

Buy Wicked Broadway New York Tickets, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350!

Wicked Tour will be visiting Tempe, Arizona again in the month of February 2012.

In case you missed the Tucson run of “Wicked” last winter, or if you saw the show and you’re just dying to see it again, it’s returning to Arizona in the upcoming schedule.

“Wicked,” the phenomenally successful Broadway musical that tells the story of what happened before Dorothy dropped into Oz, returns to ASU Gammage next spring. Performances start Feb. 15 and continue through March 11, 2012, at Gammage, located on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 28 through ASU Gammage. Wicked runs from February 15 to March 11, 2012 at ASU Gammage Auditorium. Buy Wicked Tempe AZ Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for the touring produyction of the musical Wicked which will play Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts Aug. 24 to Sept. 11.

Each day, 2½ hours prior to show time, people who present themselves at the theater’s box office will have their names placed in a lottery drum and then 30 minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only.

This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person.

Wicked runs until September 11, 2011 at the Mortensen Hall Bushnell Theatre. Buy Wicked Hartford CT Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 off on Orders over $350!

The Broadway smash-hit musical Wicked is taking over TCU Place for the next two weeks, and CTV Saskatoon got a sneak peak backstage, as crews worked to put the million-dollar set together for the show.

Nearly eight kilometers of cable is fed through a maze of a stage with enough power to supply about 12 homes. And it’s all for the dazzle of a Broadway blockbuster.

Erica Norgaard, the Wicked company manager, says the sets are massive, but necessary. “It takes us two and a half days to set up. We travel 13 trucks; we hire about 100 people locally to come help us set up this thing today. It’s huge, it’s a huge spectacle.”

The production consistently sells out across North America, and its reviews have been little short of perfect. Critics have said what makes the show so appealing is the modern story-line beneath its fairytale appearance.

“It’s about the green witch, Elphaba, the good witch Glinda, and how they meet and why she becomes the wicked witch of the west and it’s about their friendship. So it’s a really great story about friendship and judging people by the colour of their skin since she’s green,” says Norgaard.

{Via CTV Saskatoon}

The witches of Oz made their debut Wednesday night in Saskatoon, and tickets are being snapped up fast. If you haven’t been able to snag a seat, Hurry up for the best Wicked Saskatoon SK Canada Tickets Online. Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Wicked TCU Place Theatre Ticket Orders over $350!

Wicked Tour will be visiting Peoria, IL from October 12 to October 30, 2011. Box office Tickets were on sale Thursday morning at Peoria Civic Center.

More than 150 people lined up Thursday inside the Peoria Civic Center to get first dibs on tickets for the Broadway musical Wicked, which will play at the Peoria Civic Center for 24 performances in October.

Several people waiting for Wicked Peoria Civic Center Tickets

“We thought there was going to be a lot more people in line, and we got here and I’m like, ‘Yeah I’m a geek now,” said Crystal Michael, 21, of Chillicothe, who came with her 18-year-old sister.

Crystal Michael spent $174 on two tickets. Prices ranged from $42 to $127 per ticket, depending on the seats.

Several people waiting in line said they wanted to see the Wicked show, because it would provide more background to the characters in the “Wizard of Oz” movie, of which the show is partly based on.

Wicked will be performing through October 30, 2011 for 24 performances in Peoria Civic Center Theatre. Do not worry if you could not get the tickets from Peoria Civic Center Theatre box office, even you need not wait in the long lines. Buy Wicked Peoria IL Tickets Online, also Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350!