Wicked the Musical in San Francisco 2009, Returning to Its Birthplace

The Witches of Oz Return as the Wicked Los Angeles production moves North to San Francisco in January 2009 for an Extended Stay.

The musical Wicked is coming back to San Francisco for an extended stay. The blockbuster musical had its pre-Broadway world premiere at the Curran Theatre in 2003, is returning to the city where it was born. The version that opens in January at the Orpheum, will be in place for an open-ended run.

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's adaptation of Gregory Maguire's novel is a show business phenomenon. As one of Broadway's highest grossing shows for four years, it has four American companies, including the regular touring production (which played the Orpheum in '05) and sit-down shows in Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as London, Japan and Germany, with Australian and Dutch companies on the way.

David Stone, one of Wicked's producers says he's most pleased to bring Wicked "home to San Francisco," moving the current in place Los Angeles production north in January. "People ask me what's been the most exciting moment in this whole process, and it really was that first preview at the Curran. We were standing in the back, Marc and I and Stephen and Joe. Kristin got some nice applause with her opening number. Then the back door opens and this girl runs downstage center, this young, idealistic, hopeful, innocent, beautiful green girl. And the audience went crazy.

"It's the same every night, no matter who's playing it. In that instant, they'd understood that if this character was not who they'd always thought she was, the person they'd feared in childhood, but more complicated than that, then perhaps we all are. That's something that can only happen in live theater, that big idea that happens in a flash. And that was the moment we all looked at each other and said, Ohmygod! Nothing has been quite as exciting as that."

• Below: Wicked history: Changes made to Wicked since 2003 San Francisco production
• Below: Wicked Reviews and articles on the original San Francisco pre-Broadway production (2003)
• Our Wicked index of 50 Wicked-related pages

Changes to Wicked from San Francisco 2003 to Broadway

Stephen Schwartz wrote "Dancing Through Life" in the middle of the San Francisco run to replace "Which Way's the Party," which didn't seem to convey what he wanted to communicate about Fiyero. "Dancing Through Life" lyrics and Schwartz's comments

From interview with Wicked's bookwriter Winnie Holzman: "Stephen [Schwartz] wisely had insisted on having three months to rewrite in-between the time we closed in San Francisco and when we were to go back into rehearsals in New York. That was crucial; that was the thing that made the biggest difference in the life of the show. That time is what made the show work.

"Friends of mine who saw both [the San Francisco and Broadway editions] couldn't tell what I'd rewritten. But I rewrote on every page. And Stephen wrote new songs. We rewrote very, very carefully, so as not to disturb the things that were working.

"Kristin landed perfectly in San Francisco, but Idina's character was not quite coming forward — and we knew it was in the writing, not in Idina's acting. We addressed that. A lot of it had to do with her very first scenes." Source: Playbill.com as part of a longer interview.

The DVD version of this landmark new PBS documentary about Broadway includes, among others, bonus features: "Wicked: The Road to Broadway" (16 minutes) and rehearsal of "For Good." Enjoy interview clips and footage from San Francisco for the colorful production of Wicked. See stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in rehearsal and backstage, Watch Norbert Leo Butz and others rehearse "Which Ways the Party" which was cut in San Francisco, see interviews with Stephen Schwartz, lots more.

BUY IT or get MORE INFO: Broadway: The American Musical - DVD at Amazon.com

Rent it: Netflix - Only $4.99 a month! 85,000 Titles. No Late Fees. Try it for Free! Under browse selections - enter "Broadway: American Musical" to get it. Netflix carries nearly 6,300 Music & Musicals DVDs. Total of all DVDs: more than 55,000 titles.

MORE WICKED HISTORY: It was Stephen Schwartz's idea to turn Gregory Maguire's novel into a musical. Visit our podcast edition in which Stephen Schwartz talks about deciding to adapt Wicked the novel: Adapting Wicked the Novel to Stage: A Stephen Schwartz Podcast

 

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