Espinosa & Hilty 'DEFY GRAVITY' One Last Time, LA WICKED Ends Run 1/11

Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty, who originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda in the Los Angeles production of Wicked, returned to the production on Friday, October 31, and have played the leading and iconic roles through the end of the engagement at the Pantages Theatre. Wicked closes at the Pantages Theatre today, Sunday, January 11, 2009; the production then travels to San Francisco where it begins performances on January 27, 2009 at the Orpheum Theatre.

After leaving Wicked at the end of 2007, Eden performed the title role in Flora, The Red Menace for Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles, and then joined the final, historic Broadway company of Rent as Maureen Johnson, at the Nederlander Theatre in New York. Megan Hilty just completed the pre-Broadway engagement of 9 to 5 at the Ahmanson Theatre, where she originated the role of Doralee Rhodes; it will open at the Marquis Theatre in New York spring 2009.

Producer David Stone said, "When we opened the Los Angeles company, we wanted to make sure that we had a brilliant cast for the Pantages Theatre - and the Southern California audience took Eden and Megan to their hearts. Since leaving Wicked, both have added major credits to their resumes. We can't think of a better way to finish the Los Angeles engagement, than by returning these two stars to our production."

Eden was born and raised in Southern California. She has performed the role of Elphaba to critical acclaim on Broadway, in the San Francisco stop on the national tour, and in the Los Angeles production from its opening through December, 2007. She created the title character in Brooklyn the Musical and performed it from the original workshop, on through its Broadway run. You may have heard her on such recordings as Hair (BCEFA benefit recording), The Maury Yeston Songbook, Bright Lights, Big City, and John McDaniel Live at Joe's Pub.

Megan Hilty made her Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked and performed the same role in the Los Angeles production from its opening through last May. Other credits include Café Puttanesca (City Theatre), Suds (OCT) and the world premiere of Vanities, The Musical (TheatreWorks). TV credits include The Closer, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Ugly Betty and Shark. Megan can also be heard as the singing voice of Snow White in Shrek The Third, and also as the soloist/voice of Miss Lee on Disney's The Secret of the Magic Gourd.

When the Los Angeles production of Wicked plays its final performance on January 11, 2009, it will have played 791 performances and 12 previews. Wicked began previews on February 10, 2007 and opened on February 21. It set the record for top box office earner during a single week in Los Angeles theatre history when it grossed a record $1,949,068 during the week ending December 30, 2007. To date, Wicked has been seen in Los Angeles by 1.5 million patrons with a gross of $120 million.

Winner of 20 major awards including the Grammy Award 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 Witch.

Declared "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety, Wicked currently has productions in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Melbourne and on a North American tour. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

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