Are you ready to defy gravity? Well, it's time to click your heels together three times because one of Broadway's biggest blockbusters is set to crash land in Melbourne's Regent Theatre in 2024.
The 20th anniversary of Wicked is currently being celebrated at Sydney's Lyric Theatre and has met rapturous praise from critics and audiences alike (Time Out Sydney gave it four stars – read the review here).
Courtney Monsma leads the cast as Glinda, and in her debut in a lead role, Melbourne-born Sheridan Adams stars as Elphaba, the girl born with emerald-green skin who grows up to become the “Wicked Witch of the West”. Robyn Nevin plays the role of Madame Morrible, Todd McKenney is the Wizard, Liam Head plays Fiyero, Adam Murphy is Dr Dillamond, Shewit Belay plays Nessarose, Kurtis Papadinis is Boq and Zoe Coppinger is the Elphaba Standby.
Almost 20 years since its premiere, Wicked remains one of the most successful and popular musicals in the world and has played to more than 60 million people in 16 countries. It's the winner of more than 100 major awards, including a Grammy Award, an Olivier Award, six Helpmann Awards, three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards. By the time of its first return performance in Sydney, Wicked will have become the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history (surpassing Cats).
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, Wicked is set in the Land of Oz long before Dorothy dropped in, when two women meet. One born with emerald-green skin is smart, fiery, misunderstood and possessing an extraordinary talent. The other is bubbly, blonde, ambitious and exceptionally popular. They become rivals, then friends… until the world decides to call one “good” and the other one “wicked”.
Wicked will run at Melbourne's Regent Theatre from March 2024. Sign up to the waitlist here to be the first in line to buy tickets for the season when they go on presale from October 16. Tickets for the general public are on sale from October 20.