Since the announcement in June that the worldwide smash hit musical phenomenon, WICKED, is coming to Adelaide in 2011, records have been smashed with more than 10,000 South Australians registering on waitlists in order to purchase the first tickets to the must-see event of 2011.
The Adelaide born John Frost, said, “This show brings in people who’ve never seen a musical; people who never thought they would go inside a theatre. They all spread the WICKED word. This is a show that grows by word of mouth in a way and to a degree unlike any I know.”
Frost, whose Broadway productions have won two Tony Awards, is accustomed to hits, but, he admits WICKED is something he has never experienced. He went on to say, “WICKED is a phenomenon, the most successful musical in the world today. It appeals to everyone from 8 to 80. Since we opened in Australia in 2008, more than 20,000 South Australians have seen the show in Melbourne and Sydney. People love WICKED for so many different reasons.”
Festival Centre Chief Executive and Artistic Director Douglas Gautier said the Festival Centre was keenly anticipating WICKED coming to Adelaide “When WICKED opens next year, I know we’ll be overrun by audiences wanting to be part of this award winning, record breaking musical. It’s been described as the musical that has defined the decade and it is because WICKED is a rare alchemy of spectacle and pure joy,” he said.
When the Australian production of WICKED arrives in Adelaide it will have played more than 950 performances and will have been seen by more than 1.3 million Australians. WICKED’s record-breaking Australian run began in June, 2008 at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre, where it broke the city’s box office record and ran through August, 2009. The production transferred to Sydney’s Capitol Theatre on September 5, 2009 concluding its record-breaking run on September 26, 2010 ahead of opening in Brisbane in January 2011.
WICKED relates 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.
Currently in its 7th year on Broadway, WICKED’s four North American and four international companies have cumulatively grossed $2 billion and have been seen by 25 million people worldwide. WICKED is the winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy Award, three Tony Awards and six Helpmann Awards including ‘Best 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), WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B Platt and David Stone, with John Frost as Australian Co-Producer.
WICKED’s Adelaide season at the Festival Theatre, will commence on 15 April 2011 for a strictly limited season.
Tickets on sale from 9am on Monday 25 October 2010 through BASS online or call 131 246.
For more about the emerald extravaganza, visit Wicked The Musical.
More News
