Wicked returning to Hollywood Pantages

Ding, Dong, the witch is…back! Which old witch? The Wicked one!

Wicked – the Broadway musical with songs by Stephen Schwartz – will be returning to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre later this month. Based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, the play depicts events preceding Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, offering a sympathetic portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West as rebel refusing to conform with a corrupt system.

Wicked will run at the Pantages from November 28 through January 27, with evening performances at 8pm Tuesdays through Saturdays and at 6:30pm on Sundays. Matinee performances will run at 2pm on Saturdays and 1pm on Sundays. There will be no performances on Mondays.

Wicked was a huge hit on Broadway over a decade ago. The touring version, which reached the Hollywood Pantages in the summer of 2005, sold out its seven-week stint, leading the theatre to mount its own “sit-down” production the following year. Since then, there has been at least one revival of the play at the Pantages, in 2014.

Hollywood Gothique found the 2005 touring production of Wicked (reviewed here) quite entertaining, thanks to the lavish production values – although the over-abundance of songs slowed down the pace unnecessarily. Not to knock all the songs – the first-act closer, “Defying Gravity,” was absolutely amazing.

The new touring production of Wicked will reach San Diego before Los Angeles, running there from November 10 through 25. Afterwards, the show will stop at Salt Lake City in January and Fresno in March.

Get more information here.