Wicked Flies Into Auckland And Casts Its Spell

Wicked Flies Into Auckland And Casts Its Spell

10th Anniversary Year includes New Zealand Premiere and a return to Australia

14th February 2013

WICKED, the international Broadway musical blockbuster, returns to the Australasian region later this year as part of its 10th Anniversary Year, playing Auckland for the first time at The Civic Theatre from September 2013, and returning to its original Australian home at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne, from May, 2014 for a strictly limited season, followed by an Australian tour.

WICKED is “one of the most successful shows in Broadway history” (The New York Times) and now it is Auckland’s turn to be enchanted by the award-winning hit musical, before Australia is reacquainted with the magic of WICKED.

When WICKED opened on Broadway, it worked its magic on critics and audiences alike. Winner of 35 major awards including a Grammy® and three Tony Awards® , WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz. 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.

“The defining musical of the decade.”
The New York Times

Currently in its 10th year on Broadway, WICKED’s North American and International companies have cumulatively grossed over US$2.9 billion and been seen by nearly 36 million people worldwide. Since opening at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway in October 2003, WICKED has regularly broken box office records, consistently grossing more than $US1.8 million a week. In the week between Christmas and New Year, 2012, it grossed a chart-topping $2.95 million, the highest grossing week in Broadway history.

“If every musical had the brain, the heart, and the courage
of WICKED, Broadway really would be a magical place.”
Time Magazine

In London, WICKED had the highest weekly gross in West End history (a record WICKED also holds on Broadway, as well as a North American weekly touring record in both the United States and Canada), and in Tokyo and Stuttgart it again set new box office records. During its three year tour of Australia, WICKED was seen by over 1.5 million people – which is equivalent to more than 1 in 20 Australians.

“A breathtaking success story of a magnitude that North America has not
witnessed since the peak years of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.”
Washington Post

“We are very excited for WICKED to premiere at The Civic in Auckland during this 10th Anniversary Year of this wonderful production, and trust that audiences there will embrace it as warmly as those in North America, the UK, Japan, Germany, Holland, South Korea and Australia,” said WICKED producers Marc Platt and David Stone. “It is a testament to the show’s storytelling power that audiences from around the globe continue to embrace its universal themes.”

WICKED Australia Co-Producer John Frost said, “Right from the beginning this show has been an overwhelming hit everywhere it has played. WICKED is a phenomenon, the most beloved musical of the past decade, and appeals to everyone from 8 t o 80. People love it for so many different reasons – some people come to see WICKED for the engrossing story, some for the astonishing sets and costumes, some for the soaring ballads, some for the deeper messages, and some to see the life-affirming friendship between the two girls who grow up to be Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

“WICKED is a musical that enchants audiences around the world and right across the spectrum,” Frost said. I’m thrilled to bring her, in all her emerald beauty, to Auckland, before coming home to the wonderful Regent Theatre in Melbourne, where Australian audiences fell in love with WICKED for the first time.”

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and a book by Winnie Holzman (My So Called Life, Once and Again and thirtysomething). The production features musical staging by Wayne Cilento and is directed by Lisa Leguillou, based on the original direction by Joe Mantello.

WEBSITE: wickedthemusical.co.nz

ENDS

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