WICKED Weekly Gross Breaks All Previous Chicago Records

For the week ending January 4, the Chicago company of Wicked flew into 2009 with a record breaking gross of $1,764,428. This weekly gross breaks all previous records in Chicago theater history. With only 24 performances remaining, the Chicago company of Wicked continues to break all records, changing Chicago for good. Wicked will leave its mark on Chicago as the largest and most consistently top grossing show that the city has seen in decades.

Wicked has helped Broadway In Chicago stand as the fifth most popular tourist attraction in the City of Chicago and has spurred interest in theatre both locally and nationally. When surveyed, over 70 percent of the Wicked theatre patrons said that they had plans to see another show in Chicago within the year.

Called "Broadway's biggest blockbuster" by The New York Times and "a cultural phenomenon" by Variety, Wicked continues to cast a spell on all of Chicagoland and its many visitors - over 2.9 million people have attended Wicked in Chicago with audience members representing all 50 U.S. states and all seven continents. Wicked is now the longest running Broadway musical in Chicago's theater history. The Chicago company of Wicked took the stage on June 24, 2005 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.

Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento, Wicked is currently presented in Chicago; a US National Tour; on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre; in Stuttgart, Germany; Melbourne, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; and in London at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Wicked will be opening in San Francisco on January 27, 2009 at the Orpheum Theatre.

Wicked is now playing through January 25, 2009 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.). Tickets are $42 to $105 and are on sale at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St. and 18 W. Monroe St.); the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400; all Ticketmaster retail locations (including select Carson Pirie Scott stores, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores); and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com. Tickets are available to groups of 20 or more by calling (312) 977-1710.

For more information, visit www.WickedTheMusical.com/Chicago or www.BroadwayInChicago.com

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