Broadway's Biggest Blockbuster WICKED Comes to Philadelphia!
September 6, 2005
National Broadway Tour Comes To Academy of Music Beginning March 22, 2006
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 novel by Gregory Maguire. WICKED, is set to make its Philadelphia premiere March 22 – April 9, 2006. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 16 for the limited engagement. WICKED, is part of the 2005/2006 Kimmel Center Presents Cadillac Broadway at the Academy theater series.
Ticket prices range from $28 to $87.50 with a limited number of Premium seats available for $128.00. Performances include Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm; and Sunday evening, March 26 at 6:30pm. Matinee performances are Thursday, March 23, Wednesdays (March 29 & April 5), Saturdays (March 25, April 1 & April 8) and Sunday (April 2), all at 2:00pm. Other Sunday matinees are March 26 & April 9 at 1:00pm.
Tickets can be purchased beginning Sept. 16 by calling 215-731-3333, online (phone & website open at 10:00am) at the Kimmel Center box office (beginning at 8:00am) Broad & Spruce Sts., (open daily 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings) or the Academy of Music box office, Broad & Locust Sts., on performance afternoon and evenings only. Groups of 20 or more will receive discounts by calling 215-790-5883.
The musical is directed by 2003 Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Assassins Love! Valour! Compassion!, Vagina Monologues, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…). WICKED, winner of 15 major awards, including a Grammy® Award and 3 Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz, and is being produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
The role of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) will be played by Stephanie J. Block (Liza Minnelli in Broadway’s smash-hit The Boy From Oz) and Glinda will be played by Kendra Kassebaum (Broadway’s Rent and the recent Tony Award-winning Assassins).
The Wizard will be played by David Garrison (TV’s “Married With Children,” Broadway’s Titanic and A Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine, for which he received a Tony Award nomination).
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.
Stephanie Block is no stranger to WICKED, as she played the role of Elphaba during its developmental readings and stood by for the role during its pre-Broadway run in San Francisco. She then went to Broadway to appear in a different Oz, The Boy From Oz, in which she played Liza Minnelli opposite Hugh Jackman for a year. Other regional credits include Funny Girl, Crazy For You, Oliver! and James Joyce’s The Dead.
Kassebaum was most recently seen on Broadway in Rent and in Assassins (directed by Joe Mantello.) She has been on tour with Grease and A Chorus Line and has been in regional productions of A Little Night Music, Secret Garden and Tommy.
Garrison was nominated for a Tony Award (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine) and has won numerous other theater awards. He has performed on Broadway in Titanic and Bells Are Ringing and was in the national tour of Guys and Dolls. His most recognized TV role was that of Steve Rhoades in “Married With Children.”
WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winning 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.
WICKED began performances on Broadway on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 at The Gershwin Theatre and continues to be the top-grossing show on Broadway. The Grammy Award-winning cast recording is available on Decca Broadway. For more information about Wicked log on to www.wickedthemusical.com.
Broadway at the Academy 2005/2006 subscription packages are still on sale and feature four spectacular family musicals including Doctor Dolittle (Sept. 21 – 25); Annie (Nov. 22 – 27); Wicked (March 22 – April 9, 2006); and Disney’s The Lion King (beginning June 8, 2006). An additional show, The Beatles Experience as performed by RAIN (Jan. 19 & 20, 2006), is also available to subscribers.
All performances of 2005/06 Kimmel Center Presents Cadillac Broadway at the Academy are generously supported by Cadillac and the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company, WPVI-TV 6, The Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Cadillac Broadway at the Academy.
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