The record-breaking UK and Ireland tour will return in February 2018, opening at the Bristol Hippodrome (with tickets on public sale from 1 February 2017). Further cities are yet to be announced.
The news comes on the day that Wicked celebrates its 10th birthday in the West End. Based on the international best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire that ingeniously re-imagines the stories and characters created by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Read on for some impressive Wicked stats!
• Already the 8th longest running show currently playing in the West End.
• On Saturday 12 November 2016 at 2:30pm, Wicked will become the 18th longest running show in West End theatre history, surpassing the run of the original production of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
• One of only three Broadway transfers in West End theatre history to ever run 10 years or more (the two others being Disney’s The Lion King and the 1997 revival of Chicago).
• Already seen by nearly 8 million people in London alone, the production has employed over 1600 people, as well as multiple contractors and companies, since its London premiere.
• First show in West End history to gross over £1,000,000 in single week (week-ending Saturday 1 January 2011). The production has gone on to break this record on many subsequent occasions, most recently during week-ending Saturday 2 January 2016.
• Almost £1 million raised for charity through its FOR GOOD programme and many other charitable endeavours, including the planting of over nearly 35,000 new trees in support of The Woodland Trust.
• Launched in 2010 with the National Literacy Trust, the Wicked Young Writer Awards, spearheaded by Michael Morpurgo and Patron HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, has inspired the writing of more than 25,000 original stories from young people across the UK. More information can be found at www.wickedyoungwriterawards.com
• In celebration of Wicked’s 10th birthday, theatre owner ATG has invested in the complete refurbishment of the Apollo Victoria Theatre auditorium and Front of House areas. All seats and carpets have been replaced with designs replicated from the original design of the Grade II listed venue that first opened its doors, as the New Victoria Cinema, in 1930.
Book your tickets to Oz today, and pay no booking fees!