Wicked in Chicago

Wicked enthusiasts have a rare chance to appear on stage in costume during a performance before the hit musical flies out of Chicago this January. Patrons can make a $20 donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) for a chance to win a walk-on role in Chicago's longest running Broadway musical. Wicked Chicago company members will make available a limited number of raffle tickets on Wednesday, November 19 and December 3, 2008 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre. As a thank you, the Chicago company will offer patrons who donate $20 on either day, a reduced-price ticket to the 7:30 p.m. performance that evening. All donations will benefit BC/EFA, an HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization.

As many as three grand prize raffle winners will appear on stage in full costume and make up. Winners will have a costume fitting and a brief rehearsal before the walk-on date. Wicked audience members may also make $20 donations following each performance through Sunday, December 7, 2008 for a chance to win. Winners will be notified on Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Breaking multiple box office records since opening in June 2005 and playing to packed audiences from across the world night after night, the production is the top grossing show in Chicago theatre history. After more than three years of being on stage, the Chicago company will take its final bow on Sunday, January 25, 2009.

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

Tickets are on sale at Broadway In Chicago box offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St.); through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400; at all Ticketmaster ticket centers; and online at ticketmaster.com.