Get your Wicked tickets now for a chance to see one of the most talked about plays in recent memory performed before your very eyes. While Wicked is loved by children, the timeless story and classic nature of the play make it adored by adults of all ages. Revisit the classic Wizard of Oz tale to see the other side of the story, as Elphaba, the “Wicked Witch of the West” clashes with Glinda, “The Good Witch of the North” over love and the Wizard’s corrupt government.

Wicked clears up the background of the original Wizard of Oz with some creative story-telling and several musical numbers. Breaking box-office records wherever it goes, Wicked has become a bonafide musical phenomenon. More than 1.4 million people saw the West End production, and the North American tour has to date drawn more than two millions theater-goers.

For those seeing Wicked in Chicago at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts' Oriental Theatre, on March 6 the "Behind the Emerald Curtain" tour was launched!

On Tuesdays at 5 o'clock in the evening, those that are crazy for Wicked fans can take a one-hour tour that ends with a question-and-answer session with current cast members!

Included on the tour is a visit to the "Behind the Emerald Curtain" Museum, which includes Eugene Lee's set model, an up-close view of Susan Hilferty's costumes, and wigs and props from the musical.

The Wicked story is a prelude to the classic story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is more heavily influenced by the book by L. Frank Baum than the classic 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, the two of which being quite different. The story begins prior to Dorothy's supernatural arrival via tornado from Kansas, and explores the novel idea that the notorious Wicked Witch of the West was a misunderstood, tormented person. Her supposed wickedness was actually a form of retaliation against a charlatan wizard's evil plans to control Oz with his corrupt cronies.
The story progresses to Shiz University where Elphaba Thropp, the intelligent jade-skinned teen, encounters vivacious Galinda Upland (who later becomes Glinda the Good) when the two live as roommates. Their dovetailed lives illustrate friendship issues and seemingly insurmountable personality differences, even competition for the same love-interest. The audience is treated to the spectacle of Elphaba's tragic fall from grace, after she steals an ancient book of sorcery called the Grimmerie, and runs away, having already given a monkey servant of the Wizard the ability to fly by chanting a spell from the book.

Did you know that:

- Previews of Wicked began on October 8, 2003.

- Wicked officially opened on October 30, 2003.

- The musical is based loosely on a book written by Gregory Maguire.

- Wicked: The Grimmerie is a book about the making of Wicked the Musical.

- Wicked won the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Musical

Here is a list of the major actors and their roles in Wicked the Musical.

The cast for Wicked on Broadway 2007:
Kate Reinders is Glinda
Michael DeVries is the Witch's Father
Katie Webber is the Witch's Mother
Kathy Santen is the Midwife
Ana Gasteyer is Elphaba
Cristy Candler is Nessarose
Logan Lipton is Boq
Jayne Houdyshell is Madame Morrible
Steven Skybell is Doctor Dillamond
Derrick Williams is Fiyero
Michael DeVries is the Ozian Official
David Garrison is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Manuel I. Herrera is Chistery

The original Wicked on Broadway cast was:
Kristin Chenoweth is Galinda
Sean McCourt is the Witch's Father and the Ozian Official
Cristy Candler is the Witch's Mother
Jan Neuberger is the Midwife
Idina Menzel is Elphaba
Michelle Federer is Nessarose
Christopher Fitzgerald is Boq
Carole Shelley is Madame Morrible
William Youmans is Doctor Dillamond
Joel Grey is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Norbert Leo Butz is Fiyero
Manuel Herrera is Chistery
Melissa Fahn is Dorothy

The cast for Wicked on Tour 2007 is:
Christina DeCicco is Glinda
Paul Slade Smith is the Witch's Father in addition to the Ozian Official
Lori Holmes is the Witch's Mother
Barbara Tirrell is the Midwife
Victoria Matlock is Elpheba
DeeDee Magno Hall is Nesarose
Josh Lamon is Boq
Alma Cuervo is Madame Horrible
K. Todd Freeman is Doctor Dilamond
Cliffton Hall is Fiero
PJ Benjamin is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Kyle Hill is Chistery