WICKED Named 'Best Stage Musical' of the Decade by Entertainment Weekly; August: Osage County Best Play

In this week's Entertainment Weekly Magazine, which promotes its "The 100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, Songs Moments & More - Best of the Decade 2000-2009" issue, Wicked is picked as the 'Best Stage Musical'. 

Broadway's only musical representation on the magazine's list is Wicked, about which they write "With Kristin Chenoweth's soaring vocals, Idina Menzel's show-stopping 'Defying Gravity' and an army of winged monkeys, is it any wonder 2003's Oz-themed musical left audiences feeling carried away?' 

August: Osage County was named 'Best Play', with the magazine noting that "Even with a run time of three and a half hours, Tracy Letts' 2007 drama of Southern-friend familial dysfunction went by in one lightning fast jolt of pure theatrical electricity."

The Broadway smash Wicked last week became the only Broadway show in history to gross over $2 million for one week of performances. For the week ending Sunday, November 29, the musical, now in its 7th year, grossed $2,086,135, surpassing its own record of $1,839,950 as the highest grossing week in Broadway history (for the week ending December 30, 2007), and setting a new house record at the Gershwin Theatre.

Winner of 26 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, Wicked 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, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.Declared "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety, Wicked currently has productions in New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Sydney and on two North American tours. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. The musical currently stars Dee Roscioli as Elphaba, Erin Mackey as Glinda, Kevin Kern as Fiyero, Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Alex Brightman as Boq, Michelle Federer as Nessarose, and Timothy Britten Parker as Dr. Dillamond.Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com/wicked. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com. Wicked is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.

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