WICKED Makes Its Austin Premiere 8/12-30 At University Of Texas's Bass Concert Hall

WICKED is set to make its Austin premiere starting August 12-30 at the University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center's Bass Concert Hall.

WICKED is new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething") based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.

The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, 9 to 5) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...). WICKED, winner of 20 major awards, including a Grammy® Award and 3 Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz. It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

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.

WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winning EuGene Lee, costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Tony nominee® Kenneth Posner and sound design by Tony Meola. Stephen Oremus is the show's music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

WICKED has "cast quite a spell" (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called "one of the most successful shows in Broadway history" by The New York Times and "a phenomenon that keeps growing" by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.

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

Starting at $29, tickets are available at the following authorized outlets: Texas Box Office Outlets, by phone at (512) 477-6060 or online at www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com. Groups of 20 or more, call 1 -877-275-3804 or e-mail Austin.groups@broadwayacrossamerica.com. Audio described performances are Saturday, August 15 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, August 29 at 2 p.m. American Sign Language performances are Saturday, August 15 at 2 p.m. & Saturday, August 29 at 2 p.m.

Photo Marcie Dodd and HeleNe Yorke

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