Wicked

Audiences have just six weeks to catch the magic that has entranced the Windy City for three and a half years. The Chicago company of Wicked will take its final bow after the 2 p.m. performance on Sunday, January 25, 2009, following a record-breaking open run at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre. To honor Wicked aficionados, those who have seen the show six or more times will have a special chance to meet Elphaba and Glinda after the 7:30 p.m. performance on Wednesday, January 7 or January 14, 2009.

To qualify for the meet and greet, audience members must purchase main floor tickets to the January 7 or January 14 performance using the code "FAN" and must bring their ticket stubs from the previous performances they have attended. Glinda and Elphaba will meet and greet fans in the Broadway In Chicago VIP Suite after the performance. Photo opportunities will be available.

Called "Broadway's biggest blockbuster" by The New York Times and "a cultural phenomenon" by Variety, Wicked continues to cast a spell on all of Chicagoland and its many visitors - over 2.9 million people have attended Wicked in Chicago with audience members representing all 50 U.S. states and all seven continents. Wicked is now the longest running Broadway musical in Chicago's theatre history. The Chicago company of Wicked took the stage on June 24, 2005 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.

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.

Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento, Wicked is currently presented in Chicago, on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre, on a national tour, in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre and in London at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

The Chicago company of Wicked is now playing through January 25, 2009 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.). Tickets are $30 to $100 and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.