Wicked WorldIf you're among my regular Steve On Broadway (SOB) readers, surely by now you know that the Broadway musical
Wicked rates as the tuner the Love Of My Life (LOML) and I have adopted as "Our Show."
While some couples have their song, we have our musical. And we make no apologies for it whatsoever.
If you've ever wondered what a major international blockbuster this show has become, consider this -- worldwide,
Wicked has grossed over $1.9 billion and it has entertained more than 24 million people, who have seen it in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Australia. Soon, it will also be seen in Finland and Denmark.
While the musical has that tagline, "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in," so much has happened with
Wicked since
I last wrote about the show late last year. Here's a rundown on
Wicked's global reach, where it is currently playing and where it will be performing:
Wicked - Broadway
Gershwin Theatre - New York, New York
After opening October 30, 2003, to mixed reviews, the original production of
Wicked is still going strong.
Not only does it regularly rank as the top grossing Broadway show week after week, but after more than six and a half years, it's also one of those rare shows that still sells every single seat.
Tonight, it will have played its 2755th performance, and it ranks as the 18th longest running show in Broadway history. By year's end, it will eclipse
Hello, Dolly! currently in 17th place.
From my own tally, my LOML and I have seen the show on Broadway at least six times, most recently about a year ago when I found the musical still in tiptop shape.
Wicked - San Francisco
Orpheum Theatre - San Francisco, California
Once the Los Angeles sitdown production closed January 11, 2009, after 791 performances, the company moved up the coast to San Francisco, which was home to the initial Broadway tryout that opened June 10, 2003.
The San Francisco sitdown production opened February 6, 2009, and is currently slated to close on September 5, 2010, after playing a total of 672 regular performances.
While my LOML and I never saw the show in LA, we enjoyed a performance at San Francisco's Orpheum last September when
Patty Duke was portraying Madame Morrible.
Wicked - National Tours
Currently playing Dallas, Texas (
Music Hall at Fair Park) and St. Louis, Missouri (
Fabulous Fox Theatre)
The two national touring companies of
Wicked are still going strong, typically pulling into a major city (and many second-tier cities) for an entire month.
Currently, the tour schedule for two companies run through next summer in
Omaha and
Washington, DC.
To date, I've seen the touring companies perform four times: once in Chicago (not counting all the times I subsequently saw its sitdown production there), twice in Minneapolis and one more time in Des Moines.
While the touring company doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of the Broadway or other sitdown productions, the stagecraft ranks among the best I've ever seen in any touring show, and the casts are every bit as good as you'll find anywhere.
Wicked - London
Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, United Kingdom
As the first international production
Wicked to open, this production was voted "Most Popular Show" by audiences earlier this year in a special Olivier Award category.
The West End incarnation of
Wicked opened September 27, 2006, and enjoyed its 1500th performance on April 23, 2010. The show is currently booking through April 30, 2011.
My LOML and I caught a
performance in April 2007. Of all our
Wicked experiences, this ranked as the weakest of the bunch. But I readily admit it could have just been an off-performance.
Wicked - Osaka
Osaka Shiki Theater - Osaka, Japan
The first foreign-language version of
Wicked opened June 17, 2007, at Tokyo's Shiki Theatre. The Japanese-language production closed September 6, 2009, before transferring to Osaka, where it opened October 11, 2009. The show is still playing.
At the close of 2007, my LOML and I journeyed to
see the Tokyo production. If you've never seen an American musical in a different language, it's quite a unique experience. Fortunately, since we already knew the show backwards and forwards, we had little difficulty following it. Since that time, we've purchased the Japanese language cast recording, and it's a real hoot to listen to.
Wicked - Die Hexen Von Oz - Oberhausen
Metronom Theater - Oberhausen, Germany
On November 15, 2007, the second non-English language production of
Wicked opened.
This time,
Wicked - Die Hexen von Oz (or "The Witches of Oz) was produced entirely in German at Stuttgart's Palladium Theater. After closing January 29, 2010, it transferred to Oberhausen's Metronom Theater, where it opened March 9 and is still performing.
For the first time in our
Wicked experience, my LOML and I enjoyed front-row seats when
taking in the Stuttgart production over Thanksgiving 2007. We thought this incarnation had some of the best talent we had ever seen in the show, and when the cast recording was issued that December, we couldn't resist in purchasing it immediately.
Wicked - Sydney
Capitol Theatre - Sydney, Australia
Given Australians' penchant for calling their nation "Oz," it was inevitable that
Wicked would find its way there.
On July 12, 2008,
Wicked opened at Melbourne's Regent Theatre. As the musical's fourth international production, it played there through August 9, 2009, having enjoyed 464 performances.
On September 12, 2009,
Wicked opened in Sydney, where it continues to play at the Capitol Theatre and breaking records as the venue's highest grossing musical. While the show is currently slated to close exactly one year after it opened (September 12, 2010), it will continue to live on Down Under. My LOML and I will see the production on the evening of August 18.
In January 2011, Wicked will transfer to Brisbane's
Lyric Theatre, followed by an April 2011 opening at Adelaide's
Festival Theatre.
My LOML and I were fortunate to
see the production shortly after it first opened in Melbourne.
Wicked - Helsinki
Helsingin Kaupungin Teatteri - Helsinki, Finland
On August 26, 2010, the first non-replicated production of
Wicked premieres in Helsinki of all places.
Non-replicated essentially means it will be staged differently than the Broadway original with its own production and creative team. And it will be mounted in Finnish.
Currently, this production of
Wicked is
selling tickets through December 31, 2010.
Wicked - Heksene Fra Oz - Copenhagen
Det Ny Teater - Copenhagen, Denmark
Beginning in January 2011, the second non-replicated production of
Wicked takes root, this time in Denmark. Currently,
Wicked - Heksene Fra Oz is scheduled through May 2011. This production will be in Danish.
To date, my LOML and I have made over 20 visits to
Wicked beginning with our first time at the Gershwin on November 1, 2003. Since then, we've seen the show in nine different venues in five different countries.
Where in the world will our fascination with
Wicked take us next? Only the time dragon clock knows for sure.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Chicago, Des Moines, London, Melbourne, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, San Francisco, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Wicked
SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #9 - Wicked (2003, George Gershwin Theatre, New York City, NY/2005, Oriental Theatre, Chicago, IL/2006, Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN/2007, Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, United Kingdom/2007, Palladium Theater, Stuttgart, Germany/2007, Shiki Theatre, Tokyo, Japan/2008, Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Australia/2009, Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, CA/2009, Civic Center Main Stage, Des Moines, IA)
Introduction: Hard as it is to comprehend that we're already 119 months into this "new" millennium, we are fast approaching the end of its first decade. While we have yet to agree on what exactly we should call the '00s, I'll take a cue from the fine folks at The Times of London and the BBC and henceforth refer to them at the Noughties. With that small introduction, I'm pleased to present my list of plays and musicals that wowed me the most during that time. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows I've seen over the last ten years, I give you my countdown of my 25 personal favorite shows of the Noughties. Perhaps it's appropriate that the musical I've seen in nine different venues on four different continents would blow in at number nine on my favorites list.
Wicked may not have scored big with critics, but it certainly did with my Love Of My Life (LOML) and me. And those witches? Well, they're cackling all the way to the bank.
Seeing
Idina Menzel and
Kristin Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, just two days after
Wicked opened, my LOML and I were both positively charmed by the story that took the beloved classic “
The Wizard Of Oz” and cleverly spun it on its head. While we were completely mesmerized by Chenoweth in such numbers as “Popular” and Menzel in “Defying Gravity,” we have also been wowed by countless other leading ladies taking on these now iconic roles, even they were performing in other languages like German and Japanese.
It's no wonder this captivating show continues to soar with productions spanning the globe. In fact, it's such an audience favorite that
Wicked is now the
twentieth longest running show in Broadway history. Congratulotions, indeed!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for this performance.
Labels: Broadway, Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, London, Melbourne, Musical, SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Wicked
SOB's Theatrical Firsts Of The Noughties: For The First Time In My Life I'm Feeling A Little WickedOver the course of the last decade, I’ve been truly fortunate to enjoy a number of enlightening firsts in my personal theatergoing that have only served to increase my deep and abiding love for the art form known as live theatre. What follows is one of my ten favorite experiences of the last ten years.As I mentioned in
my earlier post about my love affair with
Steppenwolf, the other Love Of My Life (LOML) and I have been together for two-thirds of this decade.
It was less than four months into our relationship that we made our first trip together to the Great White Way. A couple months before we had even met, I had secured tickets to
Wicked, which was still a half year away from its Broadway opening.
Two days after the musical opened, LOML and I went to see
Wicked. I was mindful that critics had been less than charitable toward it in their reviews. But perhaps our excitement over the show began when we arrived and were awed by our fifth row center seats. Our deep appreciation for “
The Wizard of Oz” only heightened our appreciation for and enjoyment of
Wicked, which is actually much more clever than some critics cared to admit. As we left the theatre, our feet were practically floating off the floor. We loved
Wicked and couldn’t wait to see it again.
In the more than six years that have passed, we have indulged ourselves by returning to
Wicked more times than we can remember. We returned to Broadway’s
Gershwin Theatre at least a half dozen more times. While we lived in Chicago, we saw the first tour blow through as well as the first sit-down production outside of New York; we’ve seen the show there at least seven times. Additionally, we took in two tour stops: Minneapolis (twice) and Des Moines. We missed the Los Angeles sit-down production, yet managed to see it this year after it transferred to San Francisco.
We’ve also managed to experience this phenomenon overseas, first in
London, then in
Stuttgart (Germany) and then in
Tokyo, all in 2007. Last year, we traveled our farthest distance, all the way to
Melbourne, Australia, to see
Wicked on our fourth continent together. We can’t wait to see where the show will land next so we can add more stamps to our passports .
When my LOML and I last returned the Gershwin earlier this year, our visit was truly extraordinary. We now knew someone in the show who not only arranged house seats for us (which we paid for, FTC!), but also guided us on a backstage tour once the performance had concluded.
We were met by the actor’s dresser, who took us behind the curtain to our friend’s dressing room. From there, our friend took us on the stage of the Gershwin Theatre, which by then was dimly lit by the musical’s ghost light. But what an amazing vantage point to look out at that huge house and realize how much bigger the set looked from there than it did up close. It was a perfect capper to six years of seeing this show from coast-to-coast and around the world, creating memories that will last the rest of our lives.
Some couples have “their song.” For my LOML and I, we have our musical, and it’s name is
Wicked -- a show that never ceases to entertain or hold us in its spell and continues to provide that joy, that thrill, always thrilling us like we think it will.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for every single performance of Wicked.Labels: Broadway, Chicago, Des Moines, London, Melbourne, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, San Francisco, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Wicked
Agosto Em OsageCan't wait for the
North American tour of
August: Osage County to get your fix of
Tracy Letts' landmark play?
Well, you actually have a couple options, albeit expensive ones.
First, you get on a play bound for Melbourne, Australia, where the Westons and Aikens continue to hold court at the
Melbourne Theatre Company through July 4.
In addition to those who already told me that they so the production by the time
I posted my story on the opening, several additional Aussie friends have taken my recommendation to see the production and all have raved. They've said:
AWESOME advice...
We saw it last night and were both BLOWN AWAY! Thanks for the tip - Robyn Neven as Violet was MESMERISING!!!
and
Hey Steve.. Just LOVED August: Osage County. It was so electric. Just loved the pace and performances. Especially the Violet role played by our Dame of theatre Robyn Nevin. Have you ever heard of her - she is amazing.
It really was astounding - if I could see plays like that every time I went to the theatre - I would feel as if I was in Heaven!
OMG - cannot wait to see that play again... Amazing...
and
I saw August Osage County in Melbourne last night and I loved it. Easily the greatest night at the theatre I've had this year - if not, for years. It's superb. Robyn Nevin's performance as Violet is transformative and magnetic to watch.
If Australia is too far (these days, it's not nearly as expensive as it had been) and you can speak Portugese, you might consider visiting Lisbon. That's right. There is a
production playing right now at the Portugese capital's
Teatro Nacional D. Maria II!
Imagine my delight this morning in receiving an e-mail from one of my friends who landed in Lisbon (Lisboa) yesterday. He wrote:
It seems to me that August: Osage County is playing here in Lisbon - we took a picture of the poster for you
West Side Story is here as well - perhaps they will hire Swedes to play the Jets!
The production began June 25 and runs through August 2. The Teatro Nacional's Web site includes the
following description of the play (you've got to love this very rough translation from Portugese, a language I do not speak):
All the happy families are identical and all the unfortunate families the Saints to her way. When, in a night, in the rural environment of Oklahoma, the alcoholic patriarch disappears mysterious, the big clan of the Weston unites immediately for consolation of the mother and for will hurry the motive of the disappearance of the father. Seeing forced it confront hidden truths and surprising secrets, the family ends up be involved in an argument with the matriarch Violet, an addicted woman in pharmaceuticals and unstable psychological state, that is found in the environment of this stormy family.
Oh to be able to see how this show translates, quite literally.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Australia, Lisbon, Melbourne, Melbourne Theatre Company, Play, Portugal, Robyn Nevin, Touring Production, Tracy Letts
August In AustraliaThis evening marks the opening night for the Australian premiere engagement of
Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning
August: Osage County at the
Melbourne Theatre Company.
It's also the first time the play has been produced beyond the reach of the
Steppenwolf ensemble members, including
Anna D. Shapiro, who directed the show in Chicago, New York and London. Instead,
Simon Phillips takes the helm of a cast that includes
Robyn Nevin as Violet Weston,
Jane Menelaus as Barbara Fordham,
Deidre Rubenstein as Mattie Fae Aiken, Rebekah Stone as Ivy Weston,
Heidi Arena as Karen Weston and
Roger Oakley as Charlie Aiken.
For those of you who were fortunate enough to see
Cate Blanchett in the excellent 2005
Brooklyn Academy of Music mounting of
Hedda Gabler, you'll recall that Nevin was the director of that fine revival.
Steve On Broadway's eyes and ears on the ground in Melbourne have already told me:
What a fantastic play!
I can see why it would resonate so strongly with an American audience -- it resonated pretty strongly here as well -- audible gasps, cheers, laughter to dead silence. But what fantastic writing. Gifts to the actors -- beautifully drawn characters, etc., etc., etc., etc. (insert rave here).
So hooray for good theatre -- long may it reign! And replenish our souls!
My source also tells me that Robyn Nevin, who is also among Australia's favorite character actors, is marvelous and can "make the audience turn on a dime."
Another friend in Melbourne tells me:
EVERYONE is talking about Osage County!
I only wish I could be there, but I'm certainly letting all my other friends in Melbourne know that they should not miss this play.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Australia, Deidre Rubenstein, Heidi Arena, Jane Menelaus, Melbourne, Melbourne Theatre Company, Opening Night, Play, Robyn Nevin, Roger Oakley, Simon Phillips, Tracy Letts
August To Launch Summer Tour In DenverSomehow, this little piece of
news from Sunday escaped me.
Guess I was still a little verklempt from
Patti LuPone's
showstopping performance of "Rose's Turn" to take notice (
New York Post's Michael Riedel
writes about extreme phototaking today).
But if you're looking forward to seeing a leg of the upcoming
national tour of the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Play
August: Osage County, it's worth noting that the Playbill story is
already obsolete in announcing that the tour will launch in San Francisco this August.
It won't.
According to the
A:OC Web site, the August 11 - September 6 San Francisco dates at the
Curran Theatre will actually be
preceded by the official tour launch in Denver at the lovely
Ellie Caulkins Opera House on July 24.
Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play is scheduled to run there through August 8.
Casting for the tour has yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, if you're one of my readers from Down Under, it's worth noting that the
Melbourne Theatre Company will be staging its own version of
August: Osage County beginning May 23, 2009 through June 27. As far as I know, this will mark the first time the show is not being produced in association with the original Steppenwolf mounting.
Former
Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director
Robyn Nevin will star as Violet Weston. American audiences may recall that she directed
Cate Blanchett in the excellent 2005
Brooklyn Academy of Music mounting of
Hedda Gabler.
Nevin will be joined by Jane Menelaus, Robert Menzies, Deidre Rubenstein and Michael Robinson, among others. This production will be directed by Kellie Jones with
Simon Phillips serving as creative director. Take a look at the theatre company's promotional design for the show above -- they've certainly captured the essence of the play in the above artwork.
Finally, no
Chris, I have no plans to fly to Australia.
Yet.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Australia, Denver, Melbourne, Play, San Francisco, Touring Production, Tracy Letts
Wicked At FiveIn case you haven't already noticed, either by virtue of the
Empire State Building glowing in green or my posts from the past couple of days, the Broadway musical
Wicked is celebrating its
fifth anniversary of its Great White Way opening this evening.
Just a month or two into our relationship,
The Love of My Life and I first saw
Wicked together on the afternoon of November 1, 2003. Some couples have their song. We have our musical.
It springs not just from sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the actual performances
Wicked offers, but it's also derived from our innate love for the original "
Wizard Of Oz" film. After all, we were practically weaned on it as our families gathered around the television sets each year for what amounted to "event" TV way back when.
But cementing our affection for the tuner is
Wicked's inspired twisting inside out of that original tale we thought we already knew backwards and forwards. Together, for the first time, we felt a little wicked in sharing an experience we both heartily enjoyed.
Since we first saw and loved the production from our fifth row center seats a mere two days after it initially opened, we've seen the show enough times that I've honestly lost count. Not only have we been back to the
Gershwin Theatre at least another four times to see the likes of Elphaba and Glinda, but I've also been back there for the
Behind the Emerald Curtain Tour and Monday's night's
The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken benefit performance.
Oh yes, and then there were the performances in Chicago. Not only did we take in the
original touring production when it first landed at the Windy City's Oriental Theatre, but we returned to the subsequent
sitdown production there over and over and over and over again while living there (and even after we moved away). We even had several opportunities there to see our future friend and Tony winner
Rondi Reed perform as Madame Morrible.
Post Chicago, we also took in the touring cast in Minneapolis before venturing overseas to each of the international productions in
London (April 2007),
Stuttgart (November 2007),
Tokyo (December 2007) and
Melbourne (July 2008), and you can bet that we're looking forward to seeing more of the world after this show opens elsewhere. Anyone want to meet us in Amsterdam next?
Just as
The Love of My Life and I celebrate our five years together, the two of us are celebrating
Gregory Maguire for providing the decidedly different, more adult take on Elphaba and Glinda in the first place through his original novel "
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." We celebrate
Stephen Schwartz and
Winnie Holzman for transforming that story into a family musical via their original score and book. We celebrate producers
Marc Platt,
Universal Pictures,
The Araca Group,
Jon B. Platt and
David Stone for having the vision necessary to bring the show to reality. Last, but certainly not least, we celebrate the countless Elphabas, Glindas, Fiyeros, Madame Morribles, Boqs, Nessaroses, Wizards and Doctor Dillamonds who have brought this story to life around the world.
We salute and celebrate all of you. Here's to another
Wicked five years!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anniversary, Broadway, David Stone, Gregory Maguire, Jon B. Platt, London, Marc Platt, Melbourne, Stephen Schwartz, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Touring Production, Wicked, Winnie Holtzman
RIP: Rob Guest (1950-2008)
RIP: Rob Guest (1950-2008)Sad news for theatre lovers Down Under. British-born musical stage actor
Rob Guest died yesterday from a stroke suffered Tuesday evening.
While stateside audiences may not be familiar with him, he was considered one of the top performers on the Australian and New Zealand stage. Additionally, for fans of
The Phantom Of The Opera, it should be noted that he earned the distinction as the
world's longest serving star of the musical with 2,289 performances in the eponymous role over a period of seven years.
In late July, I had the unique opportunity to enjoy his terrific portrayal as the Wizard of Oz in the current Melbourne (Australia) mounting of the international hit
Wicked. He captured the essence of the role exquisitely.
According to the
production site:
Rob was taken to Melbourne’s St. Vincent’s Hospital late on Tuesday night after suffering a stroke and remained in a critical condition until his death 26 hours later. The Australian Producer of Wicked, John Frost said "His family -- his mother, his partner, his children -- and friends held his hand and told him how much we loved him."
Mr. Frost told the cast of Wicked of Rob’s lost fight for life after the Wednesday matinee performance. "It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in 35 years in the theatre," he said. "Everyone was very emotional because Rob was such a father figure to the company. Wicked’s cast looked up to him because of his vast experience.
"Rob Guest was one of Australian music theatre’s biggest stars, and the most easy-going of stars. He may have had top billing but at all times he came across to us -- producers, fellow cast members and backstage crew -- as an irrepressible, always cheerful optimist. An all round good bloke. All of us who knew him are shocked and deeply saddened."
Guest was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to the New Zealand entertainment industry, where his career had its start. Guest's career capper would be as that "
Sentimental Man" in
Wicked. I join with others in expressing my condolences.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Australia, In Memoriam, Melbourne, Musical, Rob Guest, The Phantom Of The Opera, Wicked
Curse Of The Understudy: Part VAs regular readers know, I’m currently vacationing in Australia. One major impetus for this trip was to take in the Australian production of
Wicked, which opened earlier this month at Melbourne’s lovely
Regent Theatre. I caught this past Sunday’s matinee performance.
While I’ll provide my SOB Revisit on the actual show shortly, I was a bit disappointed to learn that this incarnation’s Elphaba, regularly played by
Amanda Harrison, was out of the show for my performance. In Harrison’s place was her standby
Jemma Stevenson, who delivered a mostly competent take as the green witch.
Given how decent she was, I was somewhat surprised when my friends informed me that in the two times they had now seen the Melbourne production -- first in previews and then with me on Sunday afternoon -- how vastly Stevenson’s performance as Elphaba had improved. (She may have simply been getting her bearings as
it appears she has portrayed the green one in the Japanese production). What struck me even more is that they had now seen the show twice in its relatively short run, but somehow had missed out on Ms. Harrison both times.
I took Harrison’s absence in stride and enjoyed the show. Well,
most of the show.
You see, about one half hour into the first act -- right smack dab in the midst of the engagingly funny “Loathing” number -- the Regent Theatre’s ushers elected to show the latecomers seated right next to me, in the second row center, no less, to their seats. Only problem was that there were but two seats and
three people.
The whole matter was incredibly disruptive, not only for those of us in my row who needed to constantly stand up to let the offending latercomers in, but even more so for the poor ticket holders in the rows immediately behind us.
There was a lot of standing and shuffling as the three individuals made their way in and out of the row, all while the usher tried to figure out who was really supposed to be seated there. Needless to say, this fiasco took away from the performances taking place less than twenty feet in front of us for everyone seated around us.
Shame on the Regent Theatre’s ushers for not finding a more appropriate time to seat their guests, as well as for not having the tickets properly sorted before venturing down the aisle.
And shame on patrons for arriving late. I’m reminded of what
Barry Humphries as Dame Edna once (and quite possibly often) said to a couple of latecomers to his
Broadway show in 2000. “Where are you coming from dears? Oh, across town? Well, I came all the way from Australia and still made it here on time.”
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Feeling A Little Wicked: On The Edge Of Oz (July 25, 2008)
Something Wicked This Way Opens In Australia (July 12, 2008)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part IV (April 24, 2008)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Wicked To Finally Land In Oz During 2008 (May 16, 2007)
The Curse Of The Understudy - Part II (January 15, 2007)
The Curse Of The Understudy (October 2, 2006)
Labels: Amanda Harrison, Australia, Curse of the Understudy, Jemma Stevenson, Melbourne, Wicked
Feeling A Little Wicked: On The Edge Of OzAs regular readers will recall, the love of my life and I have more than just "our song." We have our musical. And our love affair with it began just months into our relationship -- now five years strong.
That show is
Wicked, which we've now seen at least fifteen times ... not only on Broadway or in its sitdown production in Chicago, or on its North American tour, but also in such far-flung places as London, Stuttgart (Germany) and Tokyo. We realize how extremely fortunate we've been to take in this production all over the world.
Now, the two of us find ourselves a bit like Dorothy in "
The Wizard Of Oz" en route along our very own yellow brick road known as A1 or the
Princes Highway. After a long and winding journey of over 950 kilometres from Sydney to Traralgon, we're finally on the cusp of our own Emerald City, anxiously looking forward to celebrating more than one fine day in it.
Our destination is the bright and glittery
Melbourne, where the eighth incarnation of the 21st Century's most popular new stage musical has recently opened. We're currently just 100 miles or so from Melbourne, and this Sunday, we'll be seated in this most Oz-some audience for
Wicked.
Making the trip even more exciting is that we'll be visiting our favourite Aussie friends, who have become family. And better yet, we'll all be in the audience for
Wicked together. It doesn't take a wizard to tell you that having friends like these make it easy to use our brains to recognize our hearts have the courage of their convictions.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Wicked (Melbourne) tickets.Related Stories:Something Wicked This Way Opens In Australia (July 12, 2008)
Wicked To Finally Land In Oz During 2008 (May 16, 2007)
Labels: Australia, Melbourne, Travels, Wicked
Something Wicked This Way Opens In AustraliaThis evening, the fourth international production of
Wicked finally opens in Oz! Taking the globe by storm, the eighth mounting of this decade's most popular new musical opens at the
Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city.
While the creative team behind
Wicked remains the same as for the original Broadway production, including
Joe Mantello at the helm, the cast is very Aussie.
Amanda Harrison stars as Elphaba opposite
Lucy Durack as Glinda. The rest of the cast includes
Rob Mills as Fiyero,
Rob Guest as the Wizard,
Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible,
Anthony Callea as Boq,
Rodney Dobson as Dr. Dillamond and
Penny McNamee as Nessarose.
Advance ticket sales Down Under
have been estimated at Australian $10 million (roughly on par with U.S. dollars), so strong that
AussieTheatre.com notes:
Wicked is likely to remain in Melbourne for 18 months, and while no tour has been confirmed yet, it is expected to be in Sydney either late 2009 or early 2010, depending on the box office performance of its premiere season.
In fact, another 60,000 tickets are going on sale for
Wicked Down Under on Monday.
With tonight's opening, there are now a total of eight
Wicked mountings playing throughout the world on four continents playing to a global audience of over
13 million people. The
worldwide gross box office has been about $1 billion -- more than the
take of all but three films: "
Titanic," "
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King" and "
Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest." Not bad for a little stage show.
Of course, there's the
Broadway production, which first opened at Rialto's Gershwin Theatre in October 2003.
Then, on March 8, 2005, the first
North American tour began at Toronto's Canon Theatre, and is currently playing
Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo through tomorrow before moving on to Michigan State University's
Wharton Center in East Lansing on Thursday. A
second touring company of
Wicked will begin performances on March 7, 2009, at Fort Myers' Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.
Then in June 2005, the
second sitdown production began at Chicago's Oriental Theatre after first hosting the tour. Having broken all box office records for any show in the history of Chicago theatre, this incarnation of
Wicked is now slated to close on January 25, 2009 after playing its 1,500th performance and raking in more than $210 million. The musical will depart Chicago while ticket sales are still very strong, so it may, as producer
David Stone says, "Go out with a bang."
The
third U.S. sitdown production began at Los Angeles' Pantages Theatre on February 21, 2007. This production has been featured on television's "Ugly Betty" and "Deal Or No Deal." While it's been announced that this mounting will close on January 11, 2009 after 791 regular performances,
news broke shortly after that the entire production would migrate up the California coast to San Francisco's
Orpheum Theatre for the City by the Bay's own sitdown production.
Wickedphiles will know that this was the city where the musical first took flight in previews during June 2003, albeit at the
Curran Theatre.
Wicked's
first international production was launched in London on September 27, 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre where it continues to play (
I caught a performance there the following April). The second international production and first in another language began on June 17, 2007 as
ウィキッド - The Broadway Musical Wicked at Tokyo's Shiki Theatre, where performances continue (
I saw this Japanese language version last December). The third international production and second in another language began on November 15, 2007 as
Wicked - Die Hexen Von Oz at Stuttgart, Germany's Palladium Theatre (
I saw this German language mounting last November).
As if all this
Wickedness thrust upon us weren't enough, a
Dutch language version of the show is scheduled for The Netherlands in 2009. Personally, I'm hoping for versions in French and Italian, not to mention Spanish, so I can keep my globetrotting going.
And speaking of globetrotting, two weeks from Sunday, I'll be sitting in Melbourne's Regent Theatre with my favorite mates in Australia seeing this latest production. You can bet I'll have an SOB Revisit sometime thereafter. See you in Oz!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Wicked (Melbourne) tickets.Related Stories:Wicked To Finally Land In Oz During 2008 (May 16, 2007)
Labels: Australia, First Word On New Show, Joe Mantello, Melbourne, Musical, Opening Night, The Netherlands, Wicked, Wicked Die Hexen Von Oz
