London Review: "This is musical theatre on an epic scale, supported by an army of fans...the global Wicked has arrived." -- Reviewer's comment about Wicked at the Apollo Victoria.
Learn all about the musical and keep up with news on this site WickedWestEnd.co.uk. West End Tickets information: Wicked tickets page
London's top hit musical continues to dazzle and delight. The wonderful Harriet Thorpe has now joined the cast and is fabulously funny and chillingly scary as Madame Morrible. London Cast
The hit musical WICKED, at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre, has dominated the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards 2007, winning 4 awards: Best New Musical, Best Set Design (Eugene Lee), Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Miriam Margolyes) and Best Actress in a Musical (Idina Menzel) Over 12,000 members of the theatregoing public cast their online votes with WICKED winning all of its nominated categories. The musical averaged over 51% of the total votes cast in its nominated categories and also won more awards than any other production.
"On behalf of my colleagues Marc Platt and David Stone and everyone at Universal, I'd like to thank all the theatregoers who voted for Wicked and to offer my personal congratulations to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman and our superbly talented London cast...." Michael McCabe, Executive Producer
Whatsonstage.com is the UK's biggest performing arts website and this year celebrates its 10th birthday. The Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards are now in their fifth year.
Wicked received 4 Olivier Award nominations: Joe Mantello for Best Director, as well as noms for sets, costumes, and lighting.
The London production of Wicked, which began performances at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on September 7, will continue through at least June 30, 2007.
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Wicked's creatives were nominated for 4 awards: director, sets, lighting, and costumes.
News & events - Check our News and events page regularly.
Behind-the-Scenes book with partial librettoOur Best Seller: A history and souvenir book with stories about Wicked's development, lyrics, partial libretto — Wicked Grimmerie by David Cote |
Wicked is Broadway's smash-hit musical that tells the untold story of the legendary Witches from L. Frank Baum's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (See also Wicked synopsis and Frequently Asked Questions)
From the Variety review Sept 28, 2006: "Visually, the show looks stronger than at the Gershwin because the proportions of the Apollo Victoria frame Eugene Lee's set better. The stage is less wide, and the design elements beyond the proscenium arch are built even further out along the walls of the auditorium. That's particularly useful in this, one of the U.K.'s largest houses."
Wicked's executive producer Michael McCabe and producer David Stone, along with teams of artists and technicians, have delivered a full Ozian spectacle. This transfer features the work of the original award-winning composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, bookwriter Winnie Holzman, director Joe Mantello, and others of the creative team: the producers, choreographer Wayne Cilento, and the set, costume, and lighting designers.
Much of the word-of-mouth buzz and excitement about the show has been stirred by the Grammy Award-winning cast album that has already reached gold record status. Check our WICKED SHOP for the CD.
The London opening marks a kind of homecoming for the musical, which began its life as the novel Wicked, the Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, written in the early 1990s and inspired in London. Maguire penned 400 plus pages about the life of Elphaba, the green girl who becomes the infamous witch of The Wizard of Oz.
Stephen Schwartz conceived of Wicked as musical in 1996 after hearing about Gregory Maguire's novel. The musical evolved as a collaborative effort with Wicked's lead producer Marc Platt, Schwartz, Holzman, and others, and features the story of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, along with other storylines.
Stephen Schwartz's previous Broadway musicals Godspell, Pippin, Working, and Rags have been featured in the UK in professional or amateur productions over the years. His Children of Eden, in its earliest version with a book by John Caird, opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in 1991. His The Baker's Wife ran on the West End in a Trevor Nunn-directed production in 1989.
In the 1990's, Schwartz collected Oscars for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt.
Wicked is a triumph for which Schwartz won two Grammy awards, a Drama Desk award (lyrics), and received his 6th Tony nomination.
As the publicity for the show states:
Winner of 15 major awards, this "spectacular spectacle" [New York Post] transports audiences to a fantasy land of wizardry and witchcraft with Grammy Award-winning music, Tony Award-winning sets and costumes, and stunning special effects.
The Washington Post calls Wicked "a breathtaking success story of a magnitude the theatre has not witnessed since the peak years of The Phantom of the Opera". Now you can experience this magical new musical adventure in London and discover that you've not been told the whole story about the Land of Oz...
This is from Craig - a UK fan of WICKED:
London is about to become Wicked. The smash hit mega block buster Broadway musical 'Wicked' is heading towards London and officially opens on September 27th 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London.
This awe inspiring musical is the story of just how the witches of oz first knew each other long before Dorothy dropped her house on the wicked witch of the east!
There are many top musical stage shows around, however if this one was in the Olympics, then it'd be guaranteed a gold.
Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist, is truly the real Wizard. He's worked his magic on this realisation of Gregory McGuire's novel to bring to life the most outstanding and spell binding stage musical we've ever seen.
So be sure to 'defy gravity' and fly into ticket booking overdrive. You'll be saying 'thank goodness' when you get your ticket and thinking just how 'wonderful' it all is that you got it in 'one short day.' Then you'll be thinking that 'as long as you're mine' I'll be so 'popular' now that I have a hot ticket for the hottest show in town and thinking to yourself 'what is this feeling.' But I hope I have it 'for good.'
Don't delay. It would be just Wicked if you missed seeing Wicked in London.
press report from March 7th, 2006
WICKED, the untold story of the Witches of Oz, went on sale to the general public Sunday 5 March at 9am and sold a record-breaking 100,000 pounds worth of tickets in the first hour alone. Ticket buyers braved freezing temperatures and started queuing at the Box Office from 6.30am.
Executive Producer Michael McCabe said: "even with the phenomenal success of WICKED on Broadway, we really had no idea what to expect when tickets went on sale here. In over 20 years, I have never seen such an incredible reaction as this from day one. It really does seem that the idea of a new twist on a story everyone has known and loved for years has truly captured the public's imagination".
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