Kristin Chenoweth will get a star-studded celebration at the Drama League Gala. Broadway favorites Cheyenne Jackson, Laura Benanti and Joel Grey are among the stars who will head to the Pierre Hotel on February 6 to help the Drama League honor Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth at their 28th annual gala, A Musical Celebration of Broadway. The evening’s all-star tribute, directed by Evan Pappas, will support the Drama League’s famed Directors Project.

In addition to Grey, Jackson and Benanti, the evening’s guests will include Elaine Paige, Donna Murphy, Debra Monk, Andrew Lippa, Marlo Thomas, Brent Barrett, Carole Shelley, Josh Young, David Elder, Marni Nixon, Jason Graae, Eden Espinosa, Kevin Clash from Sesame Street, as well as original and current cast members from the Broadway musical Wicked.

The show will include selections from Chenoweth’s impressive resume, featuring numbers from Wicked, Glee, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Candide, Promises, Promises, Steel Pier, The Apple Tree, the TV adaptations of Annie and The Music Man and more.

Read the complete news {Via Broadway Buzz}

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.

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First Lady Michelle Obama, and her daughters Sasha and Malia, spent the evening of Friday, July 15 in the Presidential Box at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC catching a performance of the ever ‘popular’ musical Wicked. But that was not the first time the three have seen Broadway’s biggest blockbuster. Michelle and her daughters first saw the musical in its sit-down engagement in their hometown of Chicago in 2007, and then again in 2008 before the family moved to Washington, DC.

Winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. 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, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

The cast of the national tour is currently headed by Dee Roscioli as Elphaba, Amanda Jane Cooper as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible and Mark Jacoby as the Wizard.

Declared “A Cultural Phenomenon” by Variety and “The Best Musical of the Decade” by Entertainment Weekly, Wicked currently has 7 productions: New York, London, Japan, Germany, two concurrent North American National Tours, and an Australian tour. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

{Via BroadwayWorld.com}

Wicked is currently playing the Kennedy Center Opera House through Sunday, August 21.

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Salma Hayek is going somewhere over the rainbow for her next project. The actress is producing a new ABC miniseries based on the Oz-inspired book “Wicked.” Wicked, the novel and hit musical, is not getting turned into a movie. Instead it’s going to get its own miniseries from Salma Hayek.

TVLine reports that the eight-hour film — which tells the sympathetic backstory of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West — will differ from the hit Broadway musical in that there won’t be any singing.

In addition, the storyline is expected follow Gregory Maguire’s book more closely. Expect the miniseries to be less of a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” and more of a parallel story, says TVLine.

While Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith originated the roles of Elphaba and Galinda (Glinda the Good Witch) in the “Wicked” stage musical, the cast for the ABC project has not yet been announced.

It is being reported that ABC and actress/producer Salma Hayek are joining forces to develop a miniseries based on Gregory Maguire’s novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which was also the source material for the international hit musical of the same name. Not sure how exactly do they make a two and a half hour musical into an eight hour mini series. The mini series will be an adaptation of the book, which would be much more political and darker than the musical. And it’s song and dance free.

The movie is still in the works over at Universal, but I am sure it will be ahile before we see that.

Producers are ABC Studios and Ventanarosa Productions, which is run by Hayek and her production partner Jose Tamez. Erik Jendresen of Band of Brothers will be in charge of writing the script. Whether Hayek will also appear in the miniseries, which will be based on the Maguire novel rather than the Stephen Schwartz-Winnie Holzman musical, has yet to be announced.

HollywoodNews.com: LOST creator J.J. Abrams is one of several possible directors to have been meeting with Stephen Schwartz, creator of the hit Broadway show “Wicked”, about an upcoming movie adaptation, Collider reports.

While the other potential candidates, among them Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and “Glee”’s Ryan Murphy, are already known for their musical direction, Abrams has never before directed a musical himself. A “Wicked” film has been in the works for a long time, but Universal is only recently actively beginning to work toward production in light of Disney’s upcoming Oz remake and Sam Raimi’s “The Great and Powerful Oz.”

What do you think about an Abrams-directed “Wicked”, musical theatre (and book!) lovers? Personally, I find the possibility fantastic and would love to see the kind of darker, more complex touch he would give to the family-friendly show, already adapted for the stage from Gregory Maguire’s best-selling and undeniably adult novel.

Hope to see the movie start early…

4 major Hollywood directors fight for Wicked, including J.J. Abrams

The Wicked movie adaptation is picking up steam, with a lot of Hollywood directors in the running. But it makes us wonder: What would a J.J. Abrams musical look like, and how fast would the actors have to sing?

Deadline is reporting that the contenders include Abrams (Star Trek), James Mangold (Knight and Day, Walk The Line), Ryan Murphy (Eat Pray Love, Glee), and Rob Marshall (Chicago). We’re biased in favor of Abrams, for obvious reasons. But we would also love to see his take on the strong women in Wicked, a character type he loves to play around with, and isn’t it time Abrams made a musical? As for Marshall, if he gets the project, we just hope he’s learned from his mistakes on Nine.

Wicked is based on a novel of the same name, that tells the “true” story of the Wicked Witch of the West, and her roommate in magic school, Glenda. Basically, everything you know is a lie. And the scarecrow is really hot.

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The creative minds behind the hit stage musical “Wicked” have begun meeting with Hollywood directors in search of the right person to direct the project on the big screen. Universal is in charge of the feature film project after producing the stage musical with producer Marc Platt.

The musical’s producer, Platt, along with book writer Winnie Holzman and songwriter Stephen Schwartz have begun holding meetings with film directors as the first step towards getting the project to the big screen. JJ Abrams, James Mangold, Ryan Murphy, and Rob Marshall are rumored to be among the directors who held meetings with “Wicked” project members or thrown their hat in the ring.

“Wicked” made $2 billion worldwide on the stage, mimicking the success of stage hit “Mamma Mia!” whose film adaptation grossed $600 million. “Wicked,” which began as a feature project but went to the stage first, is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” and is based upon the novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire.