WICKED to Return to Toronto Oct. 20 - Nov. 28

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time during its 2005 and 2006 engagements, WICKED, the smash-hit musical, will return to Toronto, to the Canon Theatre, October 20 through November 28. Group tickets for the return engagement are currently on sale. Single tickets go on sale Monday June 7.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, 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 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...). It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

"I'm very happy," says David Mirvish, "to at last be able - after so many months of rumour - to now make the official announcement that WICKED will be returning for its third engagement at the Canon Theatre on October 20. There are few shows now, or ever, on the road that have had the substance and appeal to be able to return to play to Toronto's sophisticated audiences three times! WICKED is one in a million! It is one of the most popular musicals ever to play our city... and this is one of the most-requested return engagements we have ever experienced."

Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED, winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy® and three Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz
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 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, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called "a cultural phenomenon" by Variety and just named "the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.

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 director. 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 www.wickedthemusical.com.

Casting for the forthcoming national tour stop will be announced at a later date.

Group tickets now on sale 416-593-4142 1-800-461-3333. Single tickets go on sale June 7 416-872-1212 1-800-461-3333 www.mirvish.com

OCTOBER 20 - NOVEMBER 28 Canon Theatre

Tues-Sat 7:30 pm; matinees Wed Sat & Sun at 1:30 pm

(Except week of Oct 20-24 -- Wed-Sat 7:30 pm; matinees Thur Sat & Sun at 1:30 pm; Sun 7 pm)

Prices: $35 to $129