Finally, we have a legend in the making on Broadway! A musical that's been running for four whole years and refuses to comedown even now, surely has to be wicked enough to grip the audience in its charismatic clutches! It really is "Wicked", written by Stephen Swartz and directed by two times Tony Award winner, Joe Mentello.
On December 31, 2006, "Wicked" made a new record in Broadway history for the maximum grossing week. Its sale of tickets touched the box office take of $1,800,310 per week!! The musical even broke its own record of $1,715,155 box office take for the week finishing on November 26, 2006!
And this is not the end. For the same week, in places like London's West End, Chicago, Canada, and Toronto, the productions of this musical broke records for earning the highest gross! Besides this, recently, TicketMaster revealed the Top Ten Most Requested Events of 2006 and "Wicked" was on the top! The implausible feature is that, this is the first theatrical production to have made its place in the top position of the list. Usually, it's occupied by sports events or rock concerts.
"Wicked" is the mysterious tale of witches of Oz. it is based on the novel written by Gregory Maguire that became the best-seller. The music and lyrics are composed by Stephen Schwartz, who has won the Academy Award for "The Prince of Egypt" and "Pocachontas." The book is written by Winnie holzman; the same writer whose stunning works like "Once and Again", "My So Called Life", and "Thirty Something" spell bound the audience. The musical staging has been done by Wayne Cilento, who has won a Tony Award and is well-known for "The Who's Tommy", "Aida", and "How to Succeed…" The director of this musical, Joe Mantello, has the credit of winning two consecutive Tony Awards in 2003 and 2004. His well-known works are "Take Me Out", "Assassins", and "Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune."
Besides the above mentioned creative souls, the other people behind the scenes who have contributed in the record-breaking success of "Wicked" include, Eugene Lee, who has designed the scenes; Susan Hilferty, who has brought the characters to life by her fabulous costumes; Tony Meola, who has made the entire show look real with terrific sounds; and Kenneth Posner, who has almost hypnotized the audience with a fantastic lighting arrangement. In addition to this, you can not forget David Stone, Marc Platt, and Jon B. Platt for their wonderful production.
Although the musical is devoid of explicit scenes or language, children below 8 years are not recommended to watch the show. The show contains certain adult themes. "Wicked" keeps you glued to your seat for 2 hours and 45 minutes, with an intermission of 15 minutes. However, as the story unfolds on stage, you lose track of time.
"Wicked" is a fine example of capturing 100 per cent of the audience's attention. What is it in "wicked" that is about to give it a legendary status? To know exactly, you will need to watch it for yourself! The tickets are impossible to get through box office. Go online or order by phone.
Al is the webmaster of the
Wicked Broadway Tickets site, a New York City entertainment website with reviews and news on every event, as well as Wicked Broadway tickets information.
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