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WICKED TAKES IT'S FINAL BOW IN BRISBANE
Posted: 8 April 2011
After a wet and bumpy start to the season, WICKED has finally said goodbye to the city, clocking up 84 'positively emerald' performances, (including a charity performance that raised over $92,000 for Act for Kids). In a special address to the audience after the show, Bert Newton on behalf of the cast, indicated that Brisbane had a special place in all their hearts, having witnessed how Queenslanders handled the January floods.
He said, "The Queensland audiences are different to the rest of the country. Warm and enthusiastic, you have all been fantastic and we have loved performing for you."
Australian producer, John Frost, has been blown away by how successful the Queensland season has been, given the rocky start that Brisbane had in January.
"One of the most successful shows in theatre history has had a spectacular season in Brisbane. Audiences have been wonderful and we are delighted by how Queensland accepted, in fact, embraced WICKED. When the final curtain came down on the show last Saturday night, over 155,000 Queenslanders had seen the show at QPAC " he said.
From all around the state, Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton, Townsville, Mackay, Roma, Mt Isa and just about every town in between, audiences 'defied gravity' and made it to QPAC for the show.
Brisbane Marketing CEO John Aitken said, "There is an enormous desire in Brisbane to prosper against the odds, and it is incredible how quickly our city was back to business and how the community continues to come together to support major events like WICKED.
"We were honoured to have WICKED in town and our appreciation was definitely shown in the numbers that turned out to support this fabulous show."
WICKED has had a record breaking run in Australia. The Australian production began at Melbourne's Regent Theatre in June, 2008 finishing up in August, 2009. It transferred to Sydney's Capitol Theatre on September 5, 2009 and finished a spectacular 12 month season on September 12th 2010.
"After nearly three astonishing years in Australia, 965 glorious performances seen by well over 1.3 million people, it is time for WICKED to spread the love and move to Adelaide and then on to Perth.
"WICKED is unique, a phenomenon; the winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy® Award, three Tony® Awards and six Helpmann® Awards, a musical that enchants audiences around the world and right across the spectrum. We are so proud of our extraordinarily talented cast, many of whom have been with the show for the whole run. They are without a doubt the best WICKED cast in the world." said John Frost
Currently in its 8th year on Broadway, WICKED's North American and international companies have cumulatively grossed $2.1 billion and have been seen by nearly 27 million people worldwide.
WICKED, with (music and lyrics) by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (My So Called Life, Once And Again and thirtysomething), is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B Platt and David Stone, with John Frost as Australian Co-Producer.
WICKED proudly acknowledges and thanks its family of WICKED sponsors for the Brisbane season including Showbiz, Sofitel Brisbane, Channel 7, 97.3FM, Volvo Car Australia, Constellation Wines, Qantas Holidays, MAC Cosmetics, QRail, Brisbane Marketing and QantasLink.
* Download Press Release - pdf
