Wicked to Launch 2nd National Tour in March 2009

The Producers of the worldwide smash WICKED announced today that a 2nd North American Tour will launch in Fort Myers, FL in March 2009. Performances at the Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall begin March 7 and run through March 29, 2009.

Producer Marc Platt states, "Theatregoers across North America have embraced WICKED, creating an overwhelming demand for tickets and a wildly successful

1st North American Tour.  The upcoming launch of this 2nd touring company will allow us to bring WICKED to markets which we have not yet been able to visit, as well as return to cities which have been asking for a second (or third) engagement." 

Following the premiere in Fort Myers, the tour will fly into:
Birmingham      BJCC Concert Hall                       April 3-19, 2009
Jacksonville      Times Union Center                     April 23-May 10, 2009
Norfolk             Chrysler Hall                                May 13-31, 2009
Indianapolis      Murat Centre                               June 3-21, 2009
Memphis         Orpheum Theatre                         June 24-July 12, 2009
Additional cities will be announced in the future.

The current WICKED tour, which has been seen by nearly 3.6 million people and broken the house record in every single city in which it has played, will continue to fly into cities across North America.  Upcoming tour stops include:

Rochester        Auditorium Theatre                                May 28-June 15, 2008
Buffalo             Shea's Performing Arts Center               June 18-July 13, 2008
East Lansing    Wharton Center                                   July 16-August 10, 2008
Ottawa             National Arts Centre                             August 13-31, 2008
Pittsburgh         Benedum Center                                 September 3-October 5, 2008
Atlanta             Fox Theatre                                         October 8-November 2, 2008
Minneapolis     Orpheum Theatre                                  November 5-Dec 7, 2008
Detroit             Opera House                                        Dec 10, 2008 - Jan 4, 2009
Louisville          Kentucky Center                                  January 7-February 1, 2009
Appleton          Fox Cities Performing Arts Center         February 4-March 1, 2009
Portland           Keller Auditorium                                 March 4-April 5, 2009
Salt Lake City  Capitol Theatre                                    April 8-May 3, 2009
Omaha            Orpheum Theatre                                 May 6-31, 2009
San Antonio     Majestic Theatre                                 June 3-28, 2009
Tempe            Gammage Auditorium                          July 1-26, 2009
Additional cities will be announced in the future.

Called "one of the most successful shows in Broadway history" by The New York Times and "a phenomenon that keeps growing" by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences at every performance on Broadway and around the world.  The Broadway production of WICKED began performances in New York on October 8, 2003 at The Gershwin Theatre.  The Chicago open-ended engagement took the stage on Friday, June 24, 2005 at The Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, and will end its triumphant run on January 25, 2009 after 1,500 performances.  The Los Angeles extended engagement at the Pantages Theatre opened on February 21, 2007 and will move to San Francisco for a first performance on January 27, 2009.

The London production of WICKED opened on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.  A Japanese-language production of the musical opened in Tokyo on June 17, 2007 and a German-language production opened in Stuttgart on November 15, 2007.  An Australian production of WICKED will open in Melbourne on July 12, 2008 and a Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2009.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman.  The production is directed by Joe Mantello, with Musical Staging by Wayne Cilento.  The Grammy Award-winning original cast recording of WICKED, produced by Stephen Schwartz for Decca Broadway, has been one of the fastest selling Broadway recordings of recent years and has been certified 'Platinum' by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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 Witch.

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