Broadway's WICKED Flies Into Sacramento Tonight

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2012, Wicked, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, will return to Sacramento Community Center Theater from tonight, May 28 through June 15 as part of the Broadway Sacramento series.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Godspell, Academy Award-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething"), Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...).

Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked, winner of over 50 major awards, including a Grammy and three 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.

Performances of Wicked at the Community Center Theater are May 28 - June 15 on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. There are two Sunday evening performances, on June 1 and June 8, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $34.50.

"We're extremely happy to be able to bring Wicked back to Sacramento," said Richard Lewis, California Musical Theatre President and CEO. "It's a superb quality production that absolutely delighted our patrons during the 2011 - 12 Broadway Sacramento season. We expect it to sell out again, so I would encourage people to get their tickets early!"

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, and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

WICKED celebrated its 10th Anniversary on October 30th. There are currently nine productions of the musical worldwide: New York, London, Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), an Australian/Asian tour (Manila), Latin America (Mexico City), a U.K./Ireland Tour (Dublin), and two concurrent North American National Tours. Broadway's #1 show for an unprecedented nine consecutive years, Wicked has been declared "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety and "The Best Musical of the Decade" by Entertainment Weekly.

WICKED features set design by Tony Award winner Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony winner Susan Hilferty (Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee Kenneth Posner (The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King). Stephen Oremus is the show's musical supervisor. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

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

Pictured: Alison Luff. Photo by Joan Marcus.