Playhouse Square Announces Lottery Seats For WICKED, Opens 11/18 At The State Theater

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from November 18 - December 13 at the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. Each day, 2½ hours prior to show time, people who present themselves at the State Theatre box office will have their names placed in a lottery drum and then thirty minutes later, names will be drawn for a limited number of orchestra seats at $25 each, cash only. This lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person.

WICKED is a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Disney's Enchanted, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething") based on the 1995 best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. The musical is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, 9 to 5) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...). WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, 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.

WICKED features set design by Tony Award winning EuGene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony winner Susan Hilferty (Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony nominee Kenneth Posner (Tony Award winner for The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King, Man of La Mancha). Stephen Oremus is the show's music director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

WICKED has "cast quite a spell" (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

Called "one of the most successful shows in Broadway history" by The New York Times and "a phenomenon that keeps growing" by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.

WICKED will play November 18 through December 13 in the State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. Performances are Tuesday - Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. A special 2:00 p.m. matinee will be held on Thursday, November 19, and an 8:00 p.m. performance will be held on Monday, November 23. There will be no performances on Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving). Ticket prices range from $29.50 to $130, and are currently on sale at The PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland), online at playhousesquare.org or by calling 216-241-6000. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling 216-664-6050.