Broadway’s Biggest Blockbuster Extended in Philadelphia! A New Musical WICKED: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz
June 4, 2007
By Stephen Schwartz And Winnie Holzman; Based On The Novel By Gregory Maguire Musical; Staging By Wayne Cilento; Directed By Joe Mantello
Tickets for Additional Performances on Sale Sunday, June 10 at 9am
Cast Announced For Philadelphia Engagement
WICKED, the smash hit 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"), has added performances for three additional weeks through September 9, 2007. WICKED is set to make its Philadelphia return at the Academy of Music beginning July 25 as part of the Cadillac Broadway Series. Tickets for the additional performances will go on sale Sunday, June 10 beginning at 9am. The official press opening is scheduled for Thursday, July 26 at 7:30pm.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-731-3333, online at www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway, at the Kimmel Center box office, Broad & Spruce Streets (open daily 10 am to 6 pm), or the Academy of Music box office, Broad & Locust Streets (during performances only). Groups of 20 or more will receive discounts for select performances by calling 215-790-5883.
Ticket prices range from $30 to $90. Performances beginning July 25 through September 9 include: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30pm; 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, July 26 at 2pm.
The role of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) will be played by Victoria Matlock, and Glinda (the Good Witch) will be played by Christina DeCicco. Playing the role of Madame Morrible will be Barbara Tirrell, and the The Wizard will be played by P.J. Benjamin.
WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is directed by 2003 and 2004 Tony® Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Assassins, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, Glengarry Glen Ross) and features musical staging by Tony® Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…).
The national tour of WICKED has "cast quite a spell" (Washington Post) throughout North America. It opened at Toronto’s Canon Theatre on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 and sold out a seven-week run. WICKED has continued to break box office records and sell out multiple-week engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.
WICKED, "Broadway’s biggest blockbuster" (The New York Times) began performances in New York on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 at The Gershwin Theatre and continues to be the top-grossing show on Broadway. WICKED is "good enough to run for a decade or two," proclaims The Wall Street Journal. It’s "a cultural phenomenon," exclaims Variety. "If every musical had the brain, the heart and the courage of WICKED, Broadway really would be a magical place," states Time Magazine.
The Chicago company of WICKED took the stage on Friday, June 24, 2005 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, and London’s West End production opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on September 27, 2006. The Los Angeles production of WICKED started performances at the Pantages Theatre on February 10, 2007.
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.
Victoria Matlock is no stranger to the world of touring. Among her many national tour credits, her favorites include The Full Monty, Evita and Jekyll & Hyde. Most recently, Victoria has been the Elphaba standby on the national tour of WICKED.
Christina DeCicco makes her touring debut in WICKED. Her credits include Hope in Urinetown (Gateway Playhouse), Maria in West Side Story (Walnut Street Theatre) and Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, to name a few.
Barbara Tirrell’s Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof and Annie. Regionally, she has performed at The Guthrie Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, North Carolina Shakespeare Theatre and Coconut Grove Playhouse.
P.J. Benjamin has been working in show business for well over thirty years. Broadway credits include leading roles in Chicago, Torch Song Trilogy, Bob Fosse’s Pippin, Charlie and Algernon, Sarava and Wind in the Willows.
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 music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.
WICKED is the winner of 15 major awards, including a Grammy® Award and 3 Tony® Awards. The Grammy Award-Winning Cast recording, which was just certified Platinum after selling its 1,000,000th copy, is available on Decca Broadway.
Subscription packages for the 2007-2008 Cadillac Broadway Series season are on sale now by visiting www.kimmelcenter.org/broadway or by calling 215- 893-1955. The new season will include: The Drowsy Chaperone (Nov. 27 – Dec. 2, 2007); My Fair Lady (March 11 – 16, 2008); Oprah Winfrey Presents THE COLOR PURPLE (June 17 – July 13, 2008), all at the Academy of Music; and Avenue Q (Jan. 29 – Feb. 10, 2008) at the Forrest Theatre. Additional shows will include: WICKED (July 25 – Sept. 9, 2007); Gypsy (May 9 – 11, 2008) and Mamma Mia! (July 15 - 27, 2008). The new Cadillac Broadway Series marks the first full season of cooperation between Kimmel Center, Inc. and Shubert Organization, Inc., where theatrical presentations in Philadelphia will be presented at the Academy of Music and the Forrest Theatre.
All performances of Cadillac Broadway Series are supported by Cadillac, Target, WPVI-TV 6, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Cadillac Broadway Series.
For more information about WICKED log on to www.wickedthemusicaltour.com.
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