Wicked Staying in Los Angeles

[GaLiNdaFied]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:29am

For those of you either in Chicago or 'in the know', what was the reason that Wicked stayed in Chicago, had it been semi-planned before? Also, what are the chances that it will stay in LA as in Chicago and in your opinion would they recast or pull people who are swings/understudies from the Broadway/touring companies to play the leads?

[TGIF]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:40am

There was a sit-down production of Wicked planned in Chicago for awhile. It is not something you can just decide to do last minute. When the touring company of Wicked left, a new cast came in and took over the performances in Chicago - also new sets were added (trap doors and such) because it was having an open-ended run.

[whiskedaway]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:40am

im assuming that is was in the planning stages for wicked to stay in chicago, if it was gonna stay in los angeles they would have announced it already. plus there are already a bunch of shows scheduled to perform in the theater in the next year.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:44am

I don't really think it's such a strange thing, per se. I mean, sit-down productions happen pretty often. Think about a place like Toronto - they had open-ended productions of Hairspray and The Producers lately... I think. And the production currently in Chicago is a separate entity from the current tour - so it didn't really "stay" there. It's a separate production, just like a production might be set up in New York, or any city throughout the world. There's planning that goes into that; it's not like the tour just went and decided it liked Chicago and was going to live there.

I don't think there's much of a way to determine the chances of another sit-down production happening, though Wicked is kind of seeming like the next show for productions to begin popping up in various places. I mean, now there's talk about London.

[GaLiNdaFied]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:52am

Thanks to everyone. So with the Chicago cast, were they already ready when the tour began, or practicing during the tour, or after the tour had left the area?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 1:53am

I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it had been announced once the tour was up and going. The Chicago production went up shortly after the tour stopped there, I believe.

[GaLiNdaFied]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 2:18am

Thanks, emcee.

[Justice]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 2:36am

As a newbie to LA and a fan of Wicked...I, personally, would love if it became a sit-down. It would be even greater if Ana Gasteyer would come over here once her run in Chicago ended!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 6:45am

Toronto wanted WICKED for a sit down production but the Toronto editions of PRODUCERS and HAIRSPRAY which had been planned for 2 year runs each only managed to last 7 months. So, they chose to open the tour here but Chicago was given the rights for an exclusive Great Lakes area sit-down engagement. The Toronto presenters erred by only running WICKED 7 weeks. It should have been scheduled here for twice that before going on to Chicago.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 9:57am

The open-ended run of Wicked was announced shortly after tickets went on sale for the tour stop. The events were not exactly unrelated- The Wicked tour tickets sold at an unprecendented rate; After group sales and subscription sales there were few tickets left for the general public. The "Sit-Down" was then announced and tickets went on sale a couple of weeks later.

I haven't heard any numbers coming out of the Oriental, but I can tell you from personal observation, tickets are selling well. There have been no reviews yet (Official opening next week) and the show has been selling out. I looked for tickets yesterday and it looked to be that they were all but sold out for about 6 weeks. I think they are on sale through September or so, and I'd imagine they will release the next block after the reviews hit.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 11:46am

Basically, the reason Chicago has a sit-down production of "Wicked" is because James Nederlander wanted one in Chicago and Chicago is capable of long-run shows. Clear Channel underbooks Chicago, and I think Nederlander saw the "Wicked" ticket sales as an opportunity to get them to book other shows for longer runs in the future. Mainly, I think, because those theatres are empty nearly a collective eight full months a year, for no real reason. So basically, it was a powerful New York producer who brough it to Chicago. It wasn't meant as a slight to Toronto.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 12:07pm

I think it will be a while before Los Angeles gets another sit down production.

Years ago, EVITA, LES MIZ and CATS had sit down companies, and of course PHANTOM ran for something like four years, but recent hits like THE LION KING and THE PRODUCERS were disappointments. SUNSET BOULEVARD and RAGTIME were both supposed to be sit down companies as well, but those plans evaporated after ticket sales tried up a few months into the run.

There just doesn't seem to be the audience for long runs.

The Pantages and The Kodak are enormous houses -- far bigger then a traditional Broadway Theatre. The Ahmanson (where PHANTOM played) does a revolving subscription, and the Shubert was torn down. So there isn't really a viable theatre option for sit down productions.

I think WICKED has had a pretty smart strategy. It's better to sell out the tour and create demand (which in turn help the sit down productions in Chicago and New York) rather then to stay in Toronto or Los Angeles twice as long just because tickets are selling well. Truth is tickets are going to sell well wherever the show plays...

Updated On: 7/7/05 at 12:07 PM

[emo_geek]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 12:11pm

Yes, people feel the urge to see it while its still there.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 2:09pm

The recording when you call the Pantages box office specifically says that the show must close on the 31st and there is no chance of adding additional performances.