Wicked Musical Tour currently stops at Norfolk for the duration March 7-25 in Chrysler Hall. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, “Wicked” tells the story of the rivalry, and eventual friendship, between Glinda and Elphaba, the green-skinned Witch of the West, before Dorothy comes on the scene. Wicked broke box office records in Norfolk when it first played during 2009 tour.

Haas, who grew up in Yorktown, makes a triumphal return to her home turf as Glinda, the Good Witch, in this wild ride of a musical featuring flying monkeys, witches on broomsticks and the sparkling city of Oz. And what an entrance she makes as she floats down from the top of the stage in a large bubble.

Instead of playing the stereotypical good witch that one remembers from the “Wizard of Oz” film, Haas has a chance to bring out the different facets of her role in this complex character adapted from the Gregory Maguire novel. She shows talent for delivering her lines with great comic effect, and her operatic training comes in handy for this demanding vocal role.

Joining her on equally fine footing is Anne Brummel as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, who belts out the show’s signature tune, “Defying Gravity,” with strength and conviction.

It’s a strong cast overall backed up by stunning special effects and a strong orchestra.

Read the complete review {Via DailyPress.com}

Wicked Musical Tour will be performing in Norfolk Virginia through March 25, 2012. Get $10 OFF on Wicked Chrysler Hall Tickets Orders over $350! Use Code #SpringSavings at Checkout.

Broadway hit musical Wicked was a big success as 30,000 people and $2.37 million came through the Plaza Theater last month, said El Paso city leaders. Wicked musical during its Feb. 1-12 run at the Plaza Theatre shattered box office records.

The musical reached a record gross of $2.37 million and is now El Paso’s most successful touring Broadway show. Approximately 5,100 tickets were purchased by visitors outside the El Paso area, bringing an estimated economic impact of $1.8 million.

“The success of Wicked in El Paso was unprecedented; El Pasoans were thrilled,” said Bryan Crowe Assistant General Manager of the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Centers. “When discussions were initiated over two years ago about the opportunity to bring this national blockbuster to El Paso, we dared to believe this community would respond and make WICKED the tremendous success it was. We hope this success will help pave the road for similar long term engagements in the future,” he said

“We are so pleased that audiences were spellbound by the show’s two-week engagement and we hope ‘Wicked’s’ popularity meant big business for area merchants,” said Steven Traxler, president of Chicago-based Jam Theatricals.

“‘Wicked’ kept us very busy, with a 66 percent increase in sales during the two-week period,” Angela Geske of the Garden Restaurant said. “We were full with dinner reservations throughout the time that ‘Wicked’ was at the Plaza Theatre.”

“Wicked” was part of the 2011-2012 El Paso Electric Broadway in El Paso series. Musical lovers may expect more shows, including “100 Years of Broadway,” “Straight No Chaser,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Rat Pack is Back.”

Wicked is currently running at Tempe, AZ and Norfolk, VA. Buy Wicked Chrysler Hall Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350!

Wicked Tour will make a stop in Baltimore, MD in the month of October 2012. The Hippodrome’s 2012-2013 Broadway Series includes the biggest hit musical “Wicked”. “From a consumer perspective, this is a juggernaut season,” said Jeff Daniel, president of the Hippodrome at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.

Wicked was a huge hit when it first played the Hippodrome in 2007.

‘Wicked’ The award-winning musical, which provides a back story for the Land of Oz and the two witches who will change the life of an unsuspecting farm girl from Kansas, is scheduled to open the season October 03, 2012 and run for a month.

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.

Wicked Hippodrome Theatre At The France-Merrick PAC Schedule – October 03 to November 04, 2012:
Tuesdays to Fridays – 8:00 PM
Saturdays – 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Sundays – 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM
Special matinee on Thursday, October 04, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Wicked musical runs through November 04, 2012 at Hippodrome Theatre At The France-Merrick PAC and tickets are selling like hot cakes. Buy Wicked Baltimore MD Tickets today. Get $10 OFF on Wicked Hippodrome Theatre Ticket Orders over $350! Use Code AFF$10.

Wicked tour is all set to start performances at Gammage Auditorium starting Wednesday, February 15, 2012. When Wicked played ASU Gammage, Tempe AZ in 2009, it broke box office records, sold out in record time.

The two-hour-and-45-minute musical takes audiences back to a time before Dorothy and Toto, when two unlikely friends — one fiery and misunderstood with emerald green skin, the other beautiful, ambitious and popular — grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the Good Witch.

Wicked Gammage Auditorium Performances Schedule:
Tuesdays – Fridays – 7:30 PM
Saturdays – 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
Sundays – 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM
No performances on Tuesday 2/21/2012 and Wednesday 2/22/2012.

Wicked is the winner of 35 awards, including a Grammy and three Tonys. It’s also Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, named “the defining musical of the decade” by The New York Times. Wicked is recommended for audiences age 8 and older.

Wicked Musical Opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; runs through March 11, 2012 at Gammage Auditorium, 1200 South Forest Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281. Buy Wicked Tempe AZ Tickets today. Get $10 OFF on Wicked Ticket Orders over $350! Use Code AFF$10.

Wicked musical will return to Capitol Theatre Utah on July 18 – August 26. Wicked’s visit to Utah was a huge success in 2009, Tickets for the production go on sale on May 11 at 10 a.m.

“Wicked” the musical is based on the novel by Gregory Maquire. Set as a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” it tells the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy finds her way into the magical land. The two witches form an unlikely friendship as their lives intertwine and lead to their futures as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. 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.

Wicked Capitol Theatre Utah Performances Schedule:
Tuesdays to Thursdays – 7:30 p.m.
Fridays – 8 p.m.
Saturday – 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sundays – 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Wicked will be playing at Capitol Theatre Utah until August 26, 2012. Buy Wicked Salt Lake City UT Tickets today. Get $10 OFF on Wicked Ticket Orders over $350! Use Code AFF$10.

Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, Wicked Musical will return for a fourth engagement at the Buell Theatre in the month of April 2012. Wicked is part of the Denver Center Attractions 2012 season, which is supported by United Airlines and Vectra Bank.

Wicked north america tour will make a stop at Denver, Colorado for the performances to start at the Buell Theatre on April 11, 2012 and continue through May 20, 2012.

“I am very pleased to have Wicked back in Denver and I am proud that we are the first market to present the show for the fourth time,” said Denver Center for the Performing Arts President and DCA Executive Director, Randy Weeks. “The Wicked team diligently works to maintain the quality of Wicked; frequent rehearsals, attention to a loose button or introducing new technologies as they become available. Hopefully I will be around for the tenth return.”

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.

Wicked The Buell Theatre Schedule – Wednesday April 11, 2012 through Sunday May 20, 2012:
Tuesdays to Fridays – 7:30 PM
Saturdays and Sundays – 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM

Wicked musical will have 47 shows before closing on May 20, 2012. Buy Wicked Denver CO Tickets today. Get $10 OFF on Wicked The Buell Theatre Ticket Orders over $350! Use Code AFF$10.

Desi Oakley Debuts on Wicked Broadway for the “universal swing” role in the Broadway production of Wicked.

Desi Oakley, who grew up and attended school in Wichita, Kansas, started appearing on stage at age 8 with the Music Theatre of Wichita. Following high school, Oakley studied theater at the University of Michigan. According to Annie Thomson (Oakley’s mother), the school receives more than 5,000 applications annually. Only 20 students are accepted each year, 10 boys and 10 girls. The program is elite and regarded as one of the best musical theater schools in the nation.

“It’s really neat, a great accomplishment,” Annie Thomson said. “I know I just sound like a proud mom, but it’s a great thing for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she keeps going for bigger and better things.”

During her career, Oakley has played the lead roles in Evita and The The Little Mermaid. After graduating from Michigan last year, she headed straight for the big show, Wicked Musical.

She was soon picked up by a casting agent, which led to her “universal swing” role in the Broadway production of Wicked. “My Broadway debut was the best night of my life,” Oakley said. “I had so much energy and adrenaline, I felt like I got shot out of a cannon.”

Being a “universal swing” means Oakley fills in for other actors both on the national tour and in New York. She has learned 16 different parts in the play — the roles of every female character in the cast. Currently in Jacksonville, Florida, on tour, Oakley says she could never see herself doing anything else.

“I’ve though a lot about it,” she said. “I can’t think of anything I would rather do. I love being confident in who I am. If you have the passion, nothing can stop you. And I personally feel like I have a duty to share the gifts I was given.”

Wicked is one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time. Wicked musical has grossed nearly $2.5 billion and has been seen by 30 million people worldwide. Wicked is currently playing on tour in Los Angeles, CA and Jacksonville, FL. Buy Wicked Tour 2012 Tickets, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350!

Wicked is currently performing at Times Union Ctr Perf Arts Moran Theater and continue through Sunday, January 22, 2012. Wicked, the latest offering from the Artist Series in Jacksonville, is a technically lavish, expertly performed production of the immensely entertaining and hugely popular show that has been running on Broadway since 2003.

Anne Brummel (left) as Elphaba and Tiffany Haas as Glinda in Wicked Musical at the Times-Union Center's Moran Theater

It provides a clever backstory to Elphaba, the mean and green Wicked Witch of the West played by Margaret Hamilton in the iconic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” but has never been a critical darling. But the characters are fascinating and the plot dovetails satisfyingly with the familiar story we know from the movie. Dorothy’s trip to Oz coincides with the last half of the second act and while she is never seen on stage, she is referenced in several scenes.

The story centers on Elphaba, a young woman born with green skin and mysterious powers, a permanent outsider who strikes unlikely alliances at school with the dazzlingly popular Glinda (soon to be the good witch) and the dashingly irresponsible Fiyero. When she learns that the animals of Oz, once treated as equals to humans, are being oppressed, Elphaba becomes an unlikely animal-rights advocate and a social outcast.

The touring version now at the Moran Theater in The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts works wonderfully well. Anne Brummel makes a fierce Elphaba and Tiffany Haas a bubbly, self-absorbed Glinda. Don Amendolia is expert as the humbug Wizard and Timothy Britten Parker makes a terrific goatman as Dr. Dillamond.

The sets, costumes and special effects are dazzling as Glinda flies around in her bubble and Elphaba on her broom, while the Wizard’s mechanical head roars and belches smoke.

Read the complete review {Via Jacksonville.com}

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Wicked Tour will make a stop at Jacksonville Florida next week for the performances at Times Union Ctr Perf Arts Moran Theater starting January 04 through Sunday, January 22, 2012.

The first stage version played on Broadway in 1902. The musical “The Wiz,” which featured a black cast, was a Broadway hit in 1975 and a movie in 1978. Last year, The Artist Series brought a meticulously faithful-to-the-movie stage version of “The Wizard of Oz” to the Moran Theater.

Like many Americans of his generation, Stephen Schwartz, 63, got his first exposure to the world of Oz when he watched an early television screening of the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz.”

Unlike most of those who fell under the spell of the iconic movie, Schwartz got a chance to create his own variation on the Oz story when he wrote the music and lyrics for “Wicked.” That musical has been running on Broadway since 2003 and a touring production will come to Jacksonville Wednesday, January 04 2012 for 31 performances over 19 days.

Schwartz said that Oz’s ongoing appeal is partly attributable to the fact that it is, like “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars,” an archetypal quest story.

What “Wicked” also does, Schwartz noted, is take that beloved story and “turn the whole thing on its head.”

At the time he became aware of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” Schwartz had sworn off Broadway. The composer, who launched his career with the Broadway hits “Godspell” (1971) and “Pippin” (1972), spent the 1990s writing music for animated films such as “Pocahantas,” for which he won two Academy Awards.

But Schwartz said he knew as soon as he read “Wicked” that he yearned for Broadway again.

Read the complete story {Via Jacksonville.com}

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Wicked will be performing at Capitol Theatre – Utah from July 19, 2012 through August 26, 2012. Wicked tickets could benefit Salt Lake City students. Salt Lake City School District patrons can score a “wicked” deal this holiday season — tickets to one of Broadway’s hottest musicals and a donation to the district, all in one purchase.

Parents, students and anyone else interested in the smash musical “Wicked” — coming to Salt Lake City in July and August — will soon be able to purchase tickets to the show while simultaneously donating to the district’s education foundation.

The sale is expected to raise thousands for the district by selling 900 tickets, according to district spokesman Michael Williams. Previous sales for shows such as “Mary Poppins” and “The Lion King” have netted big bucks ­— about $50,000 over four years.

“For a while we turn our offices into a ticket master,” Williams joked.

The sale of traveling show tickets has been used to benefit Utah nonprofits for more than a decade, starting with the musical “Rent,” according to Elisabeth Nebeker of MagicSpace Entertainment, which books the Broadway Across America tours. Nonprofits buy tickets at a discounted group rate, then sell them at face value with revenues benefiting their organizations.

For “Wicked,” Salt Lake is joined by the Canyons School District, which joins the fundraiser for the first time. The Granite School District now is considering a fundraiser during another show run, Nebeker said.

With school budgets skinnier than ever, districts are turning to fundraisers such as the “Wicked” sale to raise additional dollars for programs beyond the core curriculum, Williams said. Many districts have started their own 501(c)3 foundations to help pay for programs taxpayer dollars will not fund.

The foundation uses the funds raised from touring shows to pay for arts and music programs in the district, Williams said. Schools apply for aid, which they can use, say, to build scenery and make costumes for a musical or secure stage rights.

Read the complete story {Via The Salt Lake Tribune}

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