Overview
It's the smash-hit musical that tells the tale behind The Wizard of Oz's witches. It's been a stage sensation for more than 20 years. From later in 2024, it's even getting the big-screen treatment. That'd be Wicked, of course — and, at the Regent Theatre, it's playing Melbourne right now. Even better: you can see it for the bank balance-friendly price of $45.
TodayTix is doing another of its ticket lotteries. When a big musical heads to the Victorian capital, there are often two reasons to get excited: the fact that the particular stage show is reaching the city's stages, and possibly getting to catch it without defying your budget. Around the country, that cheap option has spanned everything from Hamilton and Moulin Rouge! to Mary Poppins and Tina — The Tina Turner Musical in recent years — and now for Melburnians, it's Wicked's turn.
This is an enchanted opportunity to enjoy the show at a discount, with tickets costing just $45. To take part in the lottery, you will need to download the TodayTix app — which is available for iOS and Android — and submit your entry each week for the next week's performances. The lottery will go live at 12.01am AEST every Thursday morning, and is already up and running for its first week.
Then, the winners are drawn after 1pm on the following Wednesday. If your name is selected, you'll have an hour to claim your tickets from when you receive the good news.
If you need a reminder, you can also sign up for lottery alerts via TodayTix, too.
Opening in Melbourne back in early March, and set to play until at least Sunday, June 30, Wicked is back in Australia two decades after composer Stephen Schwartz and playwright Winnie Holzman initially took a book that gleaned its influences from The Wizard of Oz, put it to music and turned it into one of Broadway's biggest hits of the 21st century.
Even if you haven't seen the blockbuster show before, including on its past Aussie run from 2008–11, then you've likely heard of it. Following the Land of Oz's witches — telling their untold true tale is the musical's whole angle, in fact — Wicked has notched up more awards than you can fit in a hefty cauldron over the years. That includes three Tonys from ten nominations, a Grammy, an Olivier Award and six Drama Desk Awards.
Story-wise, Wicked starts before The Wizard of Oz and continues its narrative after Dorothy Gale lands, adapting Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The text itself has sold 5.5-million copies, including five million since the musical first opened.
Here, before Dorothy blows in, two other women meet in the Land of Oz: Elphaba and Galinda. One will later be known as the Wicked Witch of the West, while the other will become Glinda the Good Witch. Exactly why that happens, and how, and the pair's relationship from rivals to unlikely friends to grappling with their new labels, fuels the show's tale.
Wicked's Melbourne season is currently playing Regent Theatre, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne until Sunday, June 30, 2024. To enter the TodayTix $45 lottery, download the company's iOS or Android app, and head to the company's website for more information — and to set up an alert.
Images: Jeff Busby.