WICKED To Open at The Opera In Gothenburg

In the 2023-2024 season, the Gothenburg Opera puts on the musical Wicked - the story of what really happened in the land of Oz before Dorothy got there, told from the perspective of the two witches. Swedish premiere for this international mega-success at the Gothenburg Opera in the autumn of 2023.

The musical, which had its world premiere in 2003, has been a formidable audience success worldwide and is one of Broadway's and London's West End's greatest successes in modern times. Wicked is created by musical icon Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (script). The plot is based on the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" from 1995, written by Gregory Maguire.

Wicked is a kind of parallel story to the plot in the classic film The Wizard of Oz from 1939. What is it that makes the girl Elphaba the infamous evil witch? It is the story of a strong, complicated and unlikely friendship between Elphaba and Glinda - the girl who then becomes known as the good witch.

The director is the Finn Samuel Harjanne, who has directed a long line of major musicals in England, Estonia and especially in Finland, from Aladdin and Billy Elliot to Les Misérables, Disney's The Little Mermaid and Kinky Boots. For him, it's an old dream come true next autumn, when the musical also celebrates its 20th anniversary: - Wicked is the original reason why I work with musical theater in general. When I was 15, I heard the music from Wicked for the first time and was so captivated that I decided not to talk about the musical, I wanted to keep it a secret because I wanted to set it up myself. And now, much later, I get to direct the Swedish premiere of the best musical ever written. It is a story of good and evil, of courage, tyranny and oppression, of norms, of not fitting in. It is simply a once-in-a-life-time musical that must be experienced, says Samuel Harjanne.

Conductor and musical director is Björn Dobbelaere, who at the Gothenburg Opera has conducted and been musically responsible for major productions such as Oliver !, The Ringer in Notre Dame, Miss Saigon, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. - I am extremely happy to once again be able to release the Gothenburg Opera's fantastic orchestra in the size that Stephen Schwartz originally intended for Wicked. We will be the first in the world with full orchestral ditch in our version, larger than on Broadway and in the West End. Musically, it will be fantastic, dramatic and nowhere is there an orchestra that is better suited, says Björn Dobbelaere.

The London-based set designer and costume designer, takis, is a creator whose versatile work includes major musicals in the West End and in leading British theaters, as well as opera, ballet and circus. - Epic, magical, colorful - our updated version will be full of surprises. But we keep the magic and the fantasy world. All layers in the story make it speak to a world of today. Wicked is both broad and magnificent family entertainment at the same time as it has a lot of side stories and layers that make it visible to all generations, says takis.

Wicked has won three Tony Awards: costume, scenography and best actress in musicals, and a Grammy for best musical album. The fact that Wicked will soon be an upcoming major film, with Ariana Grande among others, makes the musical even more relevant.

Participants / cast: Who will be on the Gothenburg Opera's big stage will be announced later. Planned premiere: autumn 2023. Ticket release: spring 2023. Played in Swedish in a new translation by Calle Norlén.

Authors and teams: Music and lyrics: Stephen Schwartz. Screenplay: Winnie Holzman. Based on Gregory Maguire's novel. Originally produced for Broadway by Marc Platt, David Stone and Universal Stage Productions. The original set on Broadway was directed by Joe Mantello. Presented in agreement with Music Theater International.

Conductor and musical director: Bjorn Dobbelaere

Directed by Samuel Harjanne

Set design and costume design: takis

Choreography: Gunilla Olsson Karlsson

Sound design: Dennis Barkevall

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