The witches of Wicked will defy gravity to soar into their fifth year in the West End; the Laurence Olivier Award-winning musical extends its booking period today to 29 October 2011.
Wicked opened at the Apollo Victoria theatre on 27 September 2006 and has since entertained millions of audience members with its dazzling costumes and addictive score. At this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards, the show was awarded the first ever Laurence Olivier Audience Award for Most Popular Show, which was voted for by over 58,000 Official London Theatre users.
Currently starring Lee Mead, Louise Dearman and Rachel Tucker, Wicked was adapted for the stage from Gregory Maguire’s novel based on the characters’ from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. The musical tells the untold story of the friendship between two girls who meet as sorcery students at the magical Shiz University and their journey to becoming the iconic witches of Oz; the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda The Good.
The hit musical has songs by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It transferred to the West End after opening on Broadway in 2003 where it is currently still running.
Since 2006, the Wicked stage has been filled with dozens of musical stars including Idina Menzel – who transferred from the original Broadway cast to open the show in London – Helen Dallimore, Miriam Margolyes, Kerry Ellis, Alexia Khadime and Diane Pilkington.
Marking another landmark in the show’s West End run which has seen over 1,650 performances of the musical, on 4 August Wicked welcomed its three millionth theatregoer.
CM