Gather your broomsticks and click your heels together three times – one of the most successful musicals in the world is about to crash land back in Sydney with the sheer force of a house falling on a woman wearing a pointy hat.
The 20th anniversary of Wicked will be celebrated with an exclusive season in at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in August 2023. This will be a revival of the John Frost production, which opened in Melbourne in 2008 and went on to tour nationally and internationally.
Aussie stars Lucy Durack and Rob Mills, who played Glinda the Good Witch and Fiyero respectively in the Australian premiere production, were in Sydney to join in the launch of exciting news this morning, alongside producer John Frost and NSW minister for the arts and tourism Ben Franklin.
Almost 20 years since its premiere, Wicked remains one of the most successful and popular musicals in the world, and has played to more than 60 million people in 16 countries. It's the winner of more than 100 major awards including the Grammy Award, the Olivier Award, six Helpmann Awards, three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards. By the time of its first return performance in Sydney, Wicked will have become the fourth longest running show in Broadway history (surpassing Cats).
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, Wicked is set in the Land of Oz long before Dorothy dropped in, when two women meet. One born with emerald-green skin is smart, fiery, misunderstood and possessing an extraordinary talent. The other is bubbly, blonde, ambitious and exceptionally popular. They become rivals, then friends…until the world decides to call one “good” and the other one “wicked”.
It's a story that has won legions of fans for its depiction of female friendship with no need for a prince to save the day – as Rob Mills said at the launch, “Without Wicked, there would be no Frozen.”
The season will run at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from August 25, 2023. General public tickets go on sale from Friday, December 2, and you snap yours up at wickedthemusical.com.au.
The year 2023 is shaping up to be a big one for musical theatre lovers in Sydney. Disney’s West End mega-hit Beauty and the Beast is coming in June, Tina – the Tina Turner Musical is rolling on in next May, the stupidly fun Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical is coming back in February, Belvoir St Theatre is staging Into the Woods in March – and that’s all just for starters.