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.

Book your 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/

Buy Wicked Dayton OH Tickets now and save $20 on your next order over $250.