Wicked, the West End stage musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, played its 6,762 nd performance (on Wednesday 24th April), becoming the 10th longest-running West End stage production in British history.
Wicked surpasses the run of the legendary farce No Sex Please, We’re British, which ran from June 1971 until September 1987, playing a total 6,761 performances.
“One of the all-time musical theatre successes” (The Guardian), the Tony®, Grammy®, Olivier, and WhatsOnStage award-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman opened at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre in September 2006 where it has already been seen by more than 12 million people.
The ten longest-running West End stage productions in British history are: The Mousetrap, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Woman in Black, Blood Brothers, Mamma Mia!, Cats, The Lion King, Starlight Express, and Wicked.
Michael McCabe, Executive Producer of Wicked in the UK said:
“As we celebrate the historic milestone of becoming the West End’s 10 th longest ever running stage show, we offer our heartfelt thanks to the amazing audiences who have supported and championed Wicked since its very first performance in 2006. We also thank our exceptional creative and backstage teams, performers, and musicians who have worked so tirelessly and diligently to deliver every performance of the show.”
About Wicked
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire and featuring songs by Stephen Schwartz, Wicked is an ingenious re-imagining of the classic ‘Wizard of Oz’ story. The award-winning stage musical goes beyond the famous Yellow Brick Road and places familiar characters in a completely original and riveting new story.
Wicked tells the untold story of an initially unlikely and eventually profound friendship between two university students, Galinda Upland and Elphaba Thropp, and how their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Wicked integrates original songs, incidental music, spoken dialogue, acting, singing, dance and multi-discipline design (including lighting, sound, sets & props, costumes, wigs, makeup, and prosthetic masks) for the purposes of storytelling and provides learners with wide-ranging dynamic opportunities for evaluating live performance and design.
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Wicked Active Learning
Wicked Active Learning, the acclaimed production’s new education resource, connects teachers directly with the in-house sales team and provides web-hosted classroom resources (including free Anti-Bullying and Diversity, Inclusion + Wellbeing lesson plans and an interview with composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, discussing his musical themes and inspiration behind many of the show’s iconic songs, including ‘Defying Gravity’, which is a set work for Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music).
In support of learning outside the classroom and the delivery of cultural capital and personal development, Wicked provides more than 60% savings on tickets, free teacher ratios (with extra tickets purchasable) and a free 20-page guide to planning an education trip, including information to support a school’s risk assessment.
When booking tickets for Wicked, you can additionally request a 25-minute post-show Q&A following Wednesday 2.30pm performances. Q&As feature members of the cast and production team, subject to availability.
