WICKED Returns to Omaha, Runs 5/25-6/12

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2009, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, returns to Omaha's Orpheum Theater, Wednesday, May 25 through Tickets for WICKED's return engagement went on sale February 21. They start at $39 and can be purchased online at TicketOmaha.com; by calling 402-345-0606 or at Ticket Omaha in the Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas streets, Omaha, Neb. For group sales call 402-661-8516 or toll-free at 866-434-8587.

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, the untold story of the witches of Oz, 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...).

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. 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 and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda. 

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 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 an Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in November 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.

Omaha performances of WICKED will be Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (the 7:30 p.m. performance is also Press Night), Friday, May 27 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 28 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The following weeks' performances will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; and matinees at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Grammy Award®-Winning cast recording is available on Decca Broadway. For more information on the production, and for a video preview, please visit www.ticketomaha.com, www.omahaperformingarts.org or www.wickedthemusical.com.