Chicago Celebrates Wicked Month with Oct. Events

WICKED, Chicago's record-breaking musical telling the untold story of the Witches of Oz, celebrates its second WICKED Day in the windy city with a spell of citywide events. WICKED-ness will again be found throughout Chicagoland from Daley Plaza's, "Chicagoween", the State Street Halloween Happening Parade, suburban shopping centers, and of course every night at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.

CHICAGOWEEN Beginning October 13

WICKED Tent at the Haunted Village at Pumpkin Plaza (Washington & Dearborn Streets)

Broadway In Chicago and the City of Chicago celebrate WICKED month by creating a WICKED tent in Pumpkin Plaza where children will hear spooky tales told by WICKED cast members or friends at various times each week beginning Friday the 13th. Children will be able to celebrate WICKED Month by getting "greenified" in the WICKED tent. There will also be WICKED sing-a-long's every Saturday and Sunday, because everyone deserves a chance to fly – and sing! Dates and times are as follows:

Every Thursday in October beginning October 19

Story Telling from 4 – 4:30 p.m. and 6:15 – 6:55 p.m.

Every Friday in October beginning October 13

Story Telling from 4 – 4:30 p.m. and 6:15 – 6:55 p.m. (Except Friday, Oct. 13 - only 6:15 – 6:55 p.m.)

Every Saturday in October beginning October 14 (Except Saturday, Oct. 21 – no face painting or singing)

Face Painting and Sing-A-Long from 11 am – 2 pm

Story Telling from 4 – 4:35 p.m. and 6:15 – 6:55 p.m.

Every Sunday in October beginning October 15 (Except Sunday, October 29 – no activities)

Face Painting and Sing-A-Long from 11 am – 2 pm

Story Telling from 4 – 4:35 p.m. and 6:15 – 6:55 p.m.

The Haunted Village on Pumpkin (Daley Plaza) is open October 13 – 31. Hours include: October 13, 5 – 8 p.m.; October 14 – 31, Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Thursday - Sunday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Beginning October 22

Be WICKED Singing Contest

WICKED will play host to the second annual Be WICKED singing contests at various locations during the month of October to find the most "POPULAR" singer in Chicago. Preliminary rounds will take place on Sunday, October 22 from 2 – 4 p.m. at Gurnee Mills in Gurnee and Thursday, October 26 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Virgin Megastore in Chicago. 50 contestants (ages 10 and up) will be randomly selected from all those who pre-register at each preliminary location. Registration begins 90 minutes prior to each respective start time. Contestants will sing a pre-determined 60-second selection from one of WICKED's most dynamic musical numbers: "Defying Gravity," "The Wizard and I," "Dancing Through Life," "For Good," or "Popular." Finalists at each location will be selected by a panel of judges. Those winners will move on to the Be WICKED contest finals, October 29.

Online "Be WICKED" Singing Competition

This year, the Be WICKED singing competition has gone global. Hundreds of aspiring superstars have submitted their video performance singing a musical number from WICKED. Voting which began online on September 22 allows all fans to chance to determine the most "popular" online performer. The Midwest regional winner will make a special a trip to Chicago on WICKED Day to compete on Daley Plaza with the rest of singing finalists.

On October 29, the first-round winners and regional online winner will all compete in the finals of the Be WICKED Singing Contest on Pumpkin (Daley) Plaza. The finals begin at 11 a.m. Celebrity judges from WICKED will determine who in Chicagoland is the most WICKED singer in all of Oz.

Be WICKED singing contest dates and locations are as follows:

Be WICKED Preliminary Singing Contests:

Sunday, October 22 from 2 – 4 p.m. at Gurnee Mills (Gurnee, IL)

Thursday, October 26 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Virgin Records in Chicago

Be WICKED Singing Finals:

Sunday, October 29 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Pumpkin (Daley) Plaza

October 21 at 12 p.m.

The State Street Halloween Happening Parade

Parade participants are invited to come dressed as their favorite WICKED character and march in the Halloween Happening Parade on Saturday, October 21. The parade will also feature the winner of the first ever WICKED Marching Band competition. Parade goers should meet in costume at the Ford Center/Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph) at 10:30 a.m. – all WICKEDLY-DRESSED characters receive a WICKED prize just for participating.

October 29 at 11 a.m.

WICKED DAY at Daley Plaza

October 29, 2006 marks the second annual WICKED Day in Chicago. Fans from throughout Oz are invited to come celebrate the musical phenomenon with a spell of events on Daley Plaza: the complete WICKED Day program and singing contest finals will take place from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

At this year's WICKED Day singing finals, the singers will be joined by special appearances from the winning entries of the Be WICKED cheerleading contest as well as the winners of the recent suburban-wide WICKED essay contest asking students to write about what they think it means to be so "thrillingly 'Popular' " as Glinda so emphatically sings.

For more information on the WICKED Month and the community opportunities throughout Chicago, please visit: www.wickedthemusical.com/chicago/happenings.htm.

WICKED, winner of 15 major awards including the Grammy Award 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, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

The Chicago company of WICKED started performances on June 24, 2005 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.) and continues its record-breaking engagement on an open-run basis.

Tickets for WICKED range in price from $25 to $85 and are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., and 18 W. Monroe St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including all Carson Pirie Scott stores, Tower Records, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com.

Groups of 20 or more may receive a discount by calling (312) 977-1710.

 

Grammy Award-winning original cast recording available on Decca Broadway.

For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com/chicago

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