'Wicked' tickets go on sale Saturday at B.B. Mann Hall

COURTESY PHOTO Victoria Matlock in "Wicked." Tickets to "Wicked," a new musical with music and lyrics by Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething"), go on sale Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall box office from 7 to 10 a.m. Radio stations WINK-AM, WTLT Lite 93.7 and WINK 96.9 on hand with games, prizes and refreshments. Performances are March 7-29.

After 10 a.m on Dec. 6, tickets can be purchased at the box office at 481-4849 or online at www.bbmannpah.com. Tickets range from $36 to $136.

The musical is directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello ("The Vagina Monologues," and "Glengarry Glenn Ross") and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento ("Aida," and "The Who's Tommy").

"Wicked," winner of 20 major awards, including a Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz. It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

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.

The national tour of "Wicked" has "cast

quite a spell," said the Washington Post.

It opened at Toronto's Canon Theatre on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 and sold out a seven-week run. The show has continued to break box office records and sell out multiple-week engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston.

"Broadway's biggest blockbuster," according to The New York Times , began performances in New York in 2003 at The Gershwin Theatre and continues to be the top-grossing show on Broadway.

For more information about "Wicked," go to www.bbmannpah.com or www.wickedthemusicaltour. com.