Wicked Flies Back into Liverpool: Here’s 14 Fascinating Facts You Didn’t Know

Theatre lovers will be over the rainbow about this news!

Multi award-winning West End and Broadway show, Wicked is returning to the Empire Theatre in March 2018 for a 4 week run and we expect the tickets are going to fly out! When the show last came to Liverpool back in 2014, more than 68,000 of us bought tickets to watch this musical phenomenon that tells the story of the Witches of Oz.

Billed as ‘One of the greatest musicals of our time’ by the Daily Mail and ‘a magical mystery tour through the fantastyland of Oz’ by the London Evening Standard, audiences can expect jaw-dropping wizardly, stunning costumes and show-stopping songs by three-time Academy award winner, Stephen Schwartz.

Scroll down for all the info on how to get your tickets from next week…..

Whether you’re an avid fan or a first-time theatre goer, Wicked will thrill and delight your eyes and ears. Here’s 14 fabulous facts about the most spectacular musical, this side of Oz!

1 – Wicked has been seen by more than 50 millions people across 100 cities in 15 different countries!

2 – It takes more than 100 people both on-stage and behind the scenes to deliver every single performance of this gigantic touring production.

3 – From Wicked to Frozen, voice of the Ice Queen, Elsa, actress Idina Menzel was the original Elphaba starring in both Broadway and the West End. Now that’s what we call a big break!

4 – This huge production features 350 stunning costumes, 140 wigs, 244 pairs of shoes, 110 hats and 125 pairs of gloves! That’s some wardrobe!

5 – Now you can’t perform a show about a green Wicked witch without having some impressive prosthetics. The show features more than 25 weird and wonderful masks that will transport you from Liverpool to Oz in a flash.

6 – Our prinny’s could teach the Wicked Witch, Elphaba a thing or two about blending seeing as her famous emerald skin-tone comes from scouse make-up favourite MAC. Chromacake, a solid watercolour cake that activates with water is the secret behind her iconic look.

7 – Wicked is already the 17th longest running show in London Theatre history and is now one of the top five longest running musicals currently playing the West End.

8 – By the time this production of Wicked returns to Liverpool, it will have travelled more than 12,000 miles by road, sea and air.

9 – Casting for the 2018 UK and Ireland Tour is still to be announced. Have you auditioned?

10 – Wicked the stage production is based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel ‘Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west’ by Gregory Maguire. It’s not all about Dorothy you know!?

11 – Wicked recently celebrated it’s 10th Anniversary in the West End and has played over 4000 performances at the Apollo Victoria Theatre where it shows no signs of stopping!

12 – This mammoth stage show originally opened at the Gershwin Theatre, in New York on 30th October 2003

13 – And since it’s beginnings on the stage, feature film rumours have surfaced routinely for years with Jersey Boys and Les Mis successfully making the leap onto the big screen. Could we see Liverpool play its part in a Wicked blockbuster?

14 – In the L Frank Baum story, The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch didn’t have a name, however ‘Wicked’ author Gregory Maguire invented the name ‘Elphaba’ for her, using the original author’s initials to create a lifelong tribute.

Hitting the Liverpool Empire on March 7th 2018 for a strictly limited four week run, Wicked tickets go on general sale from Wednesday 1st February, with priority tickets available from Jan 25th for ATG Theatre Card members.

Click here to find out more and get your tickets for what is set to be the theatre show of 2018.

Have you seen Wicked before? Will you be going again? We want to hear your fave bits of the show and what you’re most looking forward to when the show arrives next year. Tweet us @TheGuideLpool or email us, info@theguideliverpool.com and we’ll share the Wicked love!