WICKED May Follow Suit After DIRTY DANCING in July

WICKED's 2012 Broadway cast during curtain call (photo by Oliver Oliveros)

Manila, Philippines, March 11, 2013 -- Philippine news portal ABS-CBNNews.com yesterday hinted Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Ltd., live entertainment producers that brought Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" to Manila last year, and are bringing the screen-to-stage adaptation of "Dirty Dancing" to the Cultural Center of the Philippines in July, has been eyeing Stephen Schwartz's "Wicked: The Untold Stories of the Witches of Oz," one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time, to follow suit after "Dirty Dancing," besides around six other productions.

BroadwayWorld has reached out to Ivy Lisa F. Mendoza, The Manila Bulletin and ABS-CBNNews.com contributor, who interviewed James Cundall, CEO of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, on Friday, February 1 in Cape Town, South Africa, where "Dirty Dancing" ran from Friday, January 8 to Sunday, March 10. Mendoza told us, "'Wicked' is high on Cundall's priority list."

Mendoza wrote, "He [Cundall] said high on the priority list of what will be served the Manila audience next is 'Wicked' and about six other productions in the next couple of years."

Read full report HERE.

Winner of 35 major awards including a Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, "Wicked" tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, based on the 1939 film musical, "The Wizard of Oz," and on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," in a grand scale production: Long before Dorothy dropped in the Land of Oz, two other girls forge a heartwarming friendship: Elphaba, born with emerald green skin, is smart, fiery, and misunderstood; Galinda/Glinda, is beautiful, ambitious, and very popular. "Wicked" follows their remarkable odyssey and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch.

Playing its 10th year at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, "Wicked's" North American and international productions have comulatively grossed over $2.9 billion in ticket sales, and have been seen by nearly 36 million people worldwide.

"Wicked" features music and lyrics by Schwartz -- "Defying Gravity," "Popular," and "For Good" are hit songs from the musical -- and book by Winnie Holzman.

The production, produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone, is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento.

Oliver is about to earn his M.S. degree in public relations and corporate communication from New York University while serving as regional editor for BroadwayWorld.com. Over the past 18 years, Oliver has been handling public relations and corporate communication for numerous brands (including Pepsi), Broadway shows, Broadway stars, non-profit organizations, and mainstream celebrities. He also teaches public relations at De La Salle University-Manila. Follow Oliver on Twitter: @OliverOliveros

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