Photo Flash: Wicked National Tour Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary, 3/20

The first North American National Tour of WICKED will celebrate its five year anniversary on Saturday, March 20, at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House in Miami. Since its first performance in Toronto in March 2005, over 5.5 million people have seen the first North American National Tour of WICKED.

The musical, which was recently called "the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times, currently has eight productions across the globe: in New York, San Francisco, London, Germany, Japan, Australia, and on two concurrent North American National Tours. WICKED has amassed over $1.8 billion globally in ticket sales and has been seen by over 22 million people worldwide in its seven year history.

Winner of 35 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.

Declared "The Best Musical of the Decade" by Entertainment Weekly and "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety, WICKED is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, 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.

The first North American National Tour currently stars Donna Vivino as Elphaba, Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, Richard Kline as The Wizard, Richard H. Blake as Fiyero, Justin Brill as Boq, Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond, and Brynn O'Malley as Nessarose.

Grammy Award-Winning Cast recording is available on Decca Broadway. For more information about WICKED log on to www.wickedthemusical.com.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus