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Wicked Smashes One-Day Box Office Record
21st July 2008
by Simon Parris
Last
Monday 12 July, following rave reviews from its opening night,
Wicked took in a phenomenal $1.5 million in ticket sales. This
represents a new one-day record for ticket sales for any Melbourne
theatre. Wicked now has a whopping $13 million advance.
60,000 new tickets were released last week, putting the show on sale
until 21 September.
John Frost, the musical’s Australian co-producer says, “The
fantastic critical reaction and overwhelming audience excitement for
Wicked in Melbourne has exceeded our wildest expectations. We
always felt there was a huge audience for Wicked in Australia
and we’re thrilled that
Melbourne
has embraced this spectacular musical as its own. We’re proud to
join the list of international ‘Emerald Cities’ which Wicked
can call home for a long and healthy run and we thank the Broadway
producers, Marc Platt and David Stone, for choosing to mount this
spectacular production with us here in Melbourne.”
Wicked
has been running on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre since October
2003, where it regularly grosses $US1.4-1.5 million per week, with a
100% capacity house more often than not. There are also long-running
productions currently in Los Angeles and Chicago, and the show
continues to tour the US. London’s production of Wicked
opened in September 2006, and has recently reached total gross
ticket sales of £50 million. But Melbourne’s not the only city
outside Broadway and the
West End
blessed by Wicked - productions also currently playing in
Tokyo and Stuttgart.
For impatient fans that have not yet booked tickets, or dedicated
fans that are desperate to see the show again, there is another way
into Oz other than booking months in advance. For every performance,
the 19 front row tickets are sold by lottery at only $30 each. Names
are taken two and a half hours before the show and the lottery is
drawn two hours before curtain. With many performances sold out so
far, this is definitely the best chance to see the show sooner
rather than later and at a great price.
Advance bookings are taken through Ticketek:
http://premier.ticketek.com.au |