BEST OF BROADWAY SPOKANE 2011 PRESENTS WICKED!

 SO MUCH HAPPENED BEFORE DOROTHY DROPPED IN

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BROADWAY’S BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER

COMES TO SPOKANE – ON SALE DATE SET FOR

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

 

BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND WINNIE HOLZMAN
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY GREGORY MAGUIRE
MUSICAL STAGING BY WAYNE CILENTO DIRECTED BY JOE MANTELLO

January 31, 2011 – Spokane, Washington: WestCoast Entertainment, a division of Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE:RLH) announced today that WICKED, the most anticipated musical production of the 2010 – 2011 season will go on sale to the public on Saturday, March 5. Tickets will be exclusively available at the INB Performing Arts Center Box office beginning at 7:00 a.m. The first 100 ticket buyers will receive a complimentary WICKED merchandise item. 92.9 ZZU and The Big Coyote Country 99.9 will begin the festivities with music, games, food and prizes.  

Beginning at 10:00 a.m., any remaining tickets will be available for purchase online at www.bestofbroadwayspokane.com, all TicketsWest outlets, and via phone at 800.325.SEAT (7328). There is an 8-ticket limit per patron.

Due to pre-existing sales to subscribers and groups, there is a limited inventory of WICKED tickets to start with. It is likely that the Spokane engagement will sell out in record time. Patrons are urged to purchase their tickets to WICKED early.

WICKED will play May 18 – 29 at INB Performing Arts Center. In Spokane, WICKED will play Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, Sunday evenings at 6:30pm, and Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 1:00 p.m. A special weekday matinee will be held on Thursday, May 10 at 2 p.m.

Natalie Daradich and Vicki Noon

WICKED, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney’s Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”), is based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. WICKED is set to make its Spokane premiere starting May 18.

The musical 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…). WICKED, winner of 35 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.

WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winning Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee® Kenneth Posner (Tony® Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King). 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, D.C, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called “a cultural phenomenon” by Variety and named “the defining musical of the decade” by The New York Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently seven productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway 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. 

 Vicki Noon as Elphaba in WICKED

For more information about WICKED log on to www.wickedthemusical.com.