Chicago, IL -
If you were worried about getting tickets to the six-week Chicago run of the musical that’s still selling out the biggest theater on Broadway, you can relax. The musical detailing the backstory of the Witches and Wizard of Oz that was scheduled to leave town on June 12th won’t be gone for long. After a 12 day-hiatus, a new cast will take over on Friday June 24th for an open-ended run that could easily last a year or more, according an announcement made on March 23 by the production company Broadway In Chicago.
The cast that will open at the Ford Center Oriental Theater in Chicago on April 29th is the first national tour and will be coming here for just its second engagement following a run in Toronto. After June 12th, these performers will continue on to Los Angeles, but their sets will stay behind at the Oriental for the new cast featuring Ana Gasteyer, who spent 6 years on Saturday Night Live, where she was known for her impressions of Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton and Celine Dion. She’ll play the role for which Idina Menzel won a Tony last year: Elphaba, a co-ed at Shiz University in Oz who becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Joining her, as a University administrator named Madame Morrible, will be Steppenwolf company member Rondi Reed, who won a Jeff Award last year as a truly scary mother in The Fall to Earth and then provided comic relief in Steppenwolf’s Cherry Orchard. Gene Weygandt, a Chicago stage actor who’s done a lot TV as well, will play the Wizard. There have been no announcements as of this writing regarding who will play the Kristin Chenoweth role of Galinda (the good witch) or any of the other principal roles, but the casting announced so far bodes well.
The musical is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire and tells the story of the Wicked West of the West and the Good Witch of the North from their days as college friends before Dorothy lands in Oz. Think of the lyric from Sondheim’s Into the Woods that says “witches can be right” and you’ll get some idea of what the story is about. Though the citizens of Oz believe otherwise, it seems the “wicked” Elphaba is really just an idealistic girl fighting a corrupt government. That was a theme scary enough to keep the Republicans away during last summer’s political convention in New York. Stephen Schwartz, composer/lyricist of the songs for Godspell, Pippin, and lesser-known shows including The Baker’s Wife wrote the rock/pop influenced score.
Though an $80.00 ticket price may not always be an indicator of the best value in Chicago theater – so many of our storefront companies give a great show for as little as $15.00 or $20.00 – if you enjoy a big Broadway musical, this is likely to give you your money’s worth. The show (which I saw in New York last year) features a big cast, incredible scenery (designed by Eugene Lee, one of Broadway’s best designers ever), amazing costumes, lots of dancing and some very cool special effects. Both the touring company and the “sit-down” cast that will open on June 24th will be directed by the original director, multiple Tony-winner Joe Mantello.
Tickets for the sit-down production go on sale April 4th, and will be available through Ticketmaster or any of the Broadway in Chicago box offices (at the Shubert and Cadillac Palace as well as the Oriental).
by: John Olson
John is Theatre Editor/Critic for ChicagoPride.com and a regular Chicago contributor for TalkinBroadway.com.
The cast that will open at the Ford Center Oriental Theater in Chicago on April 29th is the first national tour and will be coming here for just its second engagement following a run in Toronto. After June 12th, these performers will continue on to Los Angeles, but their sets will stay behind at the Oriental for the new cast featuring Ana Gasteyer, who spent 6 years on Saturday Night Live, where she was known for her impressions of Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton and Celine Dion. She’ll play the role for which Idina Menzel won a Tony last year: Elphaba, a co-ed at Shiz University in Oz who becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Joining her, as a University administrator named Madame Morrible, will be Steppenwolf company member Rondi Reed, who won a Jeff Award last year as a truly scary mother in The Fall to Earth and then provided comic relief in Steppenwolf’s Cherry Orchard. Gene Weygandt, a Chicago stage actor who’s done a lot TV as well, will play the Wizard. There have been no announcements as of this writing regarding who will play the Kristin Chenoweth role of Galinda (the good witch) or any of the other principal roles, but the casting announced so far bodes well.
The musical is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire and tells the story of the Wicked West of the West and the Good Witch of the North from their days as college friends before Dorothy lands in Oz. Think of the lyric from Sondheim’s Into the Woods that says “witches can be right” and you’ll get some idea of what the story is about. Though the citizens of Oz believe otherwise, it seems the “wicked” Elphaba is really just an idealistic girl fighting a corrupt government. That was a theme scary enough to keep the Republicans away during last summer’s political convention in New York. Stephen Schwartz, composer/lyricist of the songs for Godspell, Pippin, and lesser-known shows including The Baker’s Wife wrote the rock/pop influenced score.
Though an $80.00 ticket price may not always be an indicator of the best value in Chicago theater – so many of our storefront companies give a great show for as little as $15.00 or $20.00 – if you enjoy a big Broadway musical, this is likely to give you your money’s worth. The show (which I saw in New York last year) features a big cast, incredible scenery (designed by Eugene Lee, one of Broadway’s best designers ever), amazing costumes, lots of dancing and some very cool special effects. Both the touring company and the “sit-down” cast that will open on June 24th will be directed by the original director, multiple Tony-winner Joe Mantello.
Tickets for the sit-down production go on sale April 4th, and will be available through Ticketmaster or any of the Broadway in Chicago box offices (at the Shubert and Cadillac Palace as well as the Oriental).
by: John Olson
John is Theatre Editor/Critic for ChicagoPride.com and a regular Chicago contributor for TalkinBroadway.com.
