Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

WICKED Announces Lottery for $25 Seats

JANUARY 4, 2010

Performances Begin January 6 at the Academy of Music

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from January 6 – 24, 2010 at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. Each day, 2½ hours prior to show time up to 20 people who present themselves at the Academy of Music box office (Broad St. & Locust St.) will have their names placed in a ‘witches hat’ and then 30 minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of 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. A limited number of regular price tickets still remain for performances of WICKED.  

WICKED begins performances at the Academy of Music January 6 and runs through January 24. When WICKED played Philadelphia in 2006 and 2007, both engagements sold out in record time and broke box office house records.

WICKED is a new musical 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”) based on the 1995 best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire.  The musical is directed by 2003 and 2004 Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Glengarry Glen Ross) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, 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, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.    

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

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 “one of the most successful shows in Broadway history” by The New York Times and “a phenomenon that keeps growing” by the Los Angeles Times, 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 Australian production. A Dutch-language production will open in 2011.

Part of the Broadway Series, ticket prices range from $30 to $100. A limited amount of tickets can be purchased by calling 215-731-3333, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, at the Kimmel Center box office, Broad & Spruce Streets (open daily 10am to 6pm), or the Academy of Music box office, Broad & Locust Streets (during performances only).   

Performances include:  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm; and Sunday evenings at 6:30pm. Matinee performances are Saturday afternoons at 2pm, Sunday afternoons at 1pm, and a weekday matinee on Thursday, January 7 at 2pm.

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