TIMES SQUARE — Despite best efforts by the band Black Eyed Peas to keep the super-secret location of their Manhattan concert hush-hush, the city’s all-seeing Twitter users broke the news that the bash would be taking place in Times Square.

Tickets for the Black Eyed Peas summer tour go on sale this weekend at Tixx.com
The band’s front man, William Adams — better known by his stage name will.i.am — said via Twitter on Wednesday that he wouldn’t release the location of the show because the NYPD threatened to shut the performance down.
“the nypd said if we reveal the secrete location they will shut the show down,” he wrote on his Twitter page around 4:30 p.m. He disclosed soon thereafter that the time of the show would be 6 p.m., but he didn’t allude to its whereabouts.
But police couldn’t keep messages from Manhattanites, some of whom saw a stage under construction in Times Square, from lighting up their Twitter feeds.
“So there’s a big stage been going up in Times Square,” Twitter user sammie_doodle wrote around 5:30 p.m. “In other news, there’s a Black Eyed Peas Secret Show tonight somewhere in NYC….”
Twitter user EverythingNYC proclaimed, “Tonight’s Black Eyed Peas FREE #NYC show location: 42nd St. Times Square or watch the live webcast.”
Finally, at 6 p.m., will.i.am relented and acknowledged that the concert was indeed happening in Times Square.
Band member Fergie made no mention of the show on her Twitter account, but will.i.am noted, “its going to be record breaking and next level.”

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Matheson & Terry Introduce Ticket Competition Bill

WASHINGTON- Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE) and Congressman Jim Matheson (D-UT) have introduced legislation to provide open and meaningful competition for consumers. The ‘Ticket Act of 2010’ protects consumer access to the most competitive and open segment of the event ticket market, the secondary market for buying and selling tickets.

“Consumers are losing the ability to transfer tickets that they purchased – in a legal way,” said Congressman Matheson. “The system is being rigged against the individual fan when it comes to the secondary market, and this bill tries to address that problem.”

“Too many times the average person is shut out of concerts and sporting events because the limitation of tickets available and the lack of a secondary market to access them,” said Congressman Lee Terry. “For one major company to have the monopoly on ticket sales and resale is unfair to the consumer.”

Facts about the Ticket Act of 2010:

* This legislation allows access to open and competitive secondary ticket markets.

* Protects ticket purchasers from harmful legal action by ticket issuers that threaten legal action against them.

* Requires ticket sellers, both in the initial primary market and the secondary resale market to offer basic consumer protections which will include full refunds (including fees charged to the purchaser) if the event or ticket is cancelled or if the seat location or similar feature have been materially misrepresented.

* The provisions of this legislation apply to nearly all ticketed events in venues seating more than 1000 persons that affect interstate commerce (with exceptions for free charity events and distribution of game tickets to high school or college students, booster clubs, and the like)

* This legislation covers all methods of ticket distribution, including electronic or virtual ticketing systems.

* The requirements would apply to venue operators, event promoters, sports teams and leagues, and their agents, including all major sources of event tickets in the primary market.

* This legislation does not pre-empt State and local scalping laws and other prerogatives.

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Spiderman tickets new york

Actress Evan Rachel Wood, previously announced to play Mary Jane Watson, the superhero’s love interest, has dropped out of the mega-budgeted stage production.

The news was reported Tuesday afternoon by Variety. Producers of the musical issued a statement saying Wood’s departure was because of a “scheduling conflict” and that casting is “underway to find a new Mary Jane to join the rest of the cast in the production,” according to the trade publication.

“Spider-man, Turn Off the Dark,” which features music by Bono and the Edge, was originally set to open on Broadway at the Hilton Theatre this spring in time for Tony Award consideration. However, the opening day has been pushed to an undetermined date in 2010.

In November, producers announced that rock impresario Michael Cohl had joined the show as lead producer. They also said that indie-rock musician Reeve Carney would play Spider-man, joining Alan Cumming, who was set to play the Green Goblin.

In the past, work on the show had been halted as producers scrambled to raise funds. The Times reported in November that the production’s budget is said to be around $52 million, making it possibly the most expensive Broadway show in history.

With the exit of Wood, we want to know who you think should play the role of Spidey’s main cling.

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Kristin Chenoweth is hot

Kristin Chenoweth concerts postponed

Published: March 10, 2010
The Oklahoma City Philharmonic has announced that the performance dates for concerts featuring Kristin Chenoweth will be moved from May to October. Chenoweth has taken a starring role in the Broadway revival of the musical “Promises, Promises,” for tickets click here which will open April 25 in New York City. The philharmonic will postpone her scheduled pops series performances until Oct. 15-16.
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PHOTOview all photos

Patrons holding tickets for the May 1 concert will be rescheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 16. Those with tickets for May 2 will be rescheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 15. Everyone holding tickets for the original performances will receive tickets for the new dates.
For more information, contact the philharmonic’s ticket office at 842-5387 or e-mail tickets@okcphilharmonic.org.
Tickets to Chenoweth’s October concerts are available by calling 842-5387 or by ordering online at www.okcphilharmonic.org.

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THE BLACK EYED PEAS
——————-
BlackBerry PRESENTS “THE E.N.D. (ENERGY NEVER DIES) WORLD TOUR 2010″: for tickets go to http://www.wwwtixx.com
———————————————————————
2nd NORTH AMERICAN LEG
———————-

Date City Venue
—- —- —–
July 27 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre – on sale Saturday,
March 13 at 11:00AM
July 28 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre – on sale Saturday,
March 13 at 11:00AM
July 31 Montreal, QB Bell Centre
August 1 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
August 3 Boston, MA TD Garden – on sale Saturday, March 13
at 12:00 noon
August 4 Newark, NJ Prudential Center – on sale Saturday,
March 13 at 12:00 noon
August 6 Hartford, CT XL Center
August 7 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
August 10 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena
August 11 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena
August 13 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
August 14 St. Louis Scottrade Center
August 18 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
August 20 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
August 22 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
August 23 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place

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Broken rules, a failed deal and a frenzy over Olympic tickets
A ticket broker provides a rare glimpse into a murky world, describing how some officials may have fueled a thriving black market that pushed up prices.

By Christine Willmsen, Steve Miletich and Kristi Heim
Seattle Times staff reporters
PREV 1 of 4 NEXT

Olympic ticket broker Gene Hammett says he lost millions of dollars.

Broken rules, and a frenzy over tickets: 1 of 2
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Broken rules, and a frenzy over tickets: 2 of 2
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Related
E-mail between parties, 1 of 2 (PDF)
E-mail between parties, 2 of 2 (PDF)
Pegazus ticket-order confirmation (PDF)
Invoice on VIP trip (PDF)
Action Seating contract for Olympics tickets (PDF)
Law firm letter to ticket holders (PDF)
Archive: Special Report | Freezing out the fans
Archive | Olympic committee settles legal battle over ticket sales

SeaTimes Olympics
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The United States’ dream died hard on Sunday. Now, Canada can party even harder: http://bit.ly/cznrTI (via @bcondottaoly)
4:25 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @NBCOlympics: Tournament MVP Ryan Miller’s post-game interview: http://nbco.ly/a7nluI #van2010 #Olympics
4:18 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @roncjudd: http://twitpic.com/15xsin
4:08 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @BC_GottaBeHere: Check out the crowd at #Robson Square via the web cams on You Gotta Be Here: http://ow.ly/1cfzP #van2010
4:02 PM Feb 28 from web

An interactive chart of Winter Olympic Medals: http://bit.ly/9o0Bv7 (via @NYTimes)
3:32 PM Feb 28 from web

Canada leads in gold medals (14), followed by Germany (10), USA (9) #van2010 #Olympics
3:22 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @Jerry_Brewer: Bucky Freakin’ Dent, meet Sidney Freakin’ Crosby #van2010 #hockey #olympics
3:08 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @kristiheim: Canadian fan came over to shake Americans hands, saying “great game. I’ve never been so scared of Americans in my life”
3:02 PM Feb 28 from web

Apologies to Bobby Thomson, but this is the new-school Shout Heard ‘Round The World. #van2010 (via @Jerry_Brewer)
3:02 PM Feb 28 from web

RT @Jerry_Brewer: Sidney Crosby, in a 4-on-4 situation? Too good. #van2010 #Olympics
2:57 PM Feb 28 from web

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In the worldwide scramble for Olympic tickets, the International Olympic Committee strictly prohibits countries and their agents from reselling tickets on the black market. But a U.S. ticket broker says he bought thousands of tickets from two dealers who claimed to have a pipeline to European Olympic officials.

In an interview with The Seattle Times, Gene Hammett, who owns Action Seating in Suwanee, Ga., said he purchased and resold thousands of tickets for the 2008 Beijing Games from a father and son with Hungarian connections — and recently paid one of them nearly $3 million for tickets to the Vancouver Winter Games, which come to a close Sunday.

But the 17,000 Vancouver tickets Hammett expected to sell to fans and other brokers never materialized. The failed deal created a frenzy just days before the Games began, as scalpers scrambled to find new suppliers for thousands of tickets they owed to fans.

Now, as some fans still search for the Games’ last and hottest sporting-event ticket — Sunday’s gold-medal hockey match — Hammett is stirring up a new storm in the Olympic business world: He has told The Times that the two dealers, Joseph Bunevacz and his 41-year-old son David, both of Southern California, led him to believe the tickets were coming from several National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in Europe and their official ticket agents.

On Friday, after International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials reviewed information provided by The Times, Mark Adams, IOC communications director, said the committee will investigate whether ticketing rules were violated.

Olympic leaders have long suspected that some countries’ Olympic officials and their authorized ticket agencies have sold tickets illicitly. The Olympic movement’s inability to police sales of tickets provided to NOCs — each of which is supposed to dole out tickets only to its own nation’s officials, athletes and fans — has allowed a thriving black market to flourish and push up prices.

If leaders find that NOCs are selling outside of their territories, Adams said, “then the IOC will take action against the relevant NOCs and their agents going forward to future Games.”

Hammett also has met with the U.S. Secret Service, which investigates financial fraud. Agency officials confirmed they talked with him, but wouldn’t say if they are investigating.

Amid the allegations, Vancouver organizers insist they have taken unprecedented steps to stop unauthorized ticket sales.

Hammett’s story — along with documents, tape recordings and e-mail exchanges he has provided The Times — offers a rare look into that murky world.

Businessmen strike a deal in Beijing

On Jan. 15, Hammett sat in his temporary apartment in Vancouver, waiting for a phone call telling him that his tickets had arrived.

The city was abuzz with final preparations for the Games. For Hammett, this would be his biggest deal ever: If he could sell his full order of Olympic tickets — well above face value — he stood to make $1 million.

According to Hammett, he’d already given David Bunevacz more than $2.9 million of his and his customers’ money. And he would hand over another $1 million when the tickets arrived in Vancouver after being collected throughout Europe.

But the phone call — and the tickets — never came.

By then, Hammett was already anxious. After 18 months of calls, negotiations, meetings, e-mails and wire transfers of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Bunevacz had warned him that a problem with his Hong Kong financiers was threatening the deal.

But the 39-year-old Hammett, who’d gotten into ticket resales in high school, believed the Bunevaczes were solid. They were official dealers who sold him tickets at the Beijing Games.

Hammett first met Joseph Bunevacz in the lobby of the Hong Fu hotel in August 2008. Bunevacz said he was based in Budapest with Pegazus Sport Tours, the official ticket agency representing the Hungary and Spain NOCs. David Bunevacz competed internationally as a decathlete.

The two represented themselves as powerful insiders who could easily get $3 million worth of tickets from NOCs. Hammett said he was looking for tickets, and he was led to an office in the hotel.

“There was a big operation, multiple people working,” Hammett said. The staff pulled out thousands of tickets from what they called the vault. “There was more than I’ve ever seen in my life. They had boxes and boxes of tickets.”

Hammett was in business: “I bought as much as I could afford and then resold them to other brokers and then just kept doing that over and over.”

In the end, he said, he bought a couple thousand tickets for $200,000.

Joseph Bunevacz says he did meet Hammett in Beijing, but denies selling any tickets there.

The Times interviewed at least two other people who say they purchased Beijing tickets from Joseph Bunevacz. One was a vendor who purchased a luxury box. Another was David Simon, a former Los Angeles Olympic organizer and now president of the Los Angeles Sports Council, who paid for $25,000 worth of tickets and $95,000 in hotel rooms for the council. Both believed Bunevacz was working for Pegazus Sport Tours.

Ambiguity surrounds Joseph Bunevacz’s role with Pegazus. Bunevacz, his business associates, Olympic officials and representatives of Pegazus describe the relationship differently. Pegazus officials say he does not work for them. David Bunevacz’s role is even more unclear.

In one e-mail, David Bunevacz tells Hammett how they had formed “Pegazus Sport Tours & Marketing Asia” for the Beijing Games, as well as a California company with a similar name, to distance themselves from the official ticket agency, “to safeguard the mother company from deals like this and any deal in the future which happens to be against IOC rules.”

The promise of gold for brokers

On the last day of the Beijing Games, Hammett and the Bunevaczes began negotiations for Vancouver, 17 months away, where an expected record demand for tickets would put more money in play.

In one e-mail exchange, David Bunevacz told Hammett he had been working on contracts for the Games with representatives in Hungary, France, Germany and Italy.

“I would not be entertaining these guys unless I knew it would be worth millions in profit,” Bunevacz wrote. “I don’t mind paying huge kickbacks as long as contracts are signed and goods delivered.”

Bunevacz also wrote that he was negotiating with Hungary and Spain for the 2012 Games in London: “We are getting a head start and are going for a 4-5 million dollar order which means big commissions for the sharks in the NOC’s and they love it since we will advance a few hundred grand this Christmas … ”

The Vancouver deal was struck: Hammett would get 17,000 tickets out of the roughly 275,000 tickets available to the general public outside of Canada. But he would have to pay an average 25 percent markup to David Bunevacz.

Bunevacz promised him some of the most coveted seats — including 426 tickets to the men’s gold-medal hockey game and more than 370 to the Opening Ceremony.

“Our current contracts with various NOCs will cover the majority of your ticket request,” according to a September 2008 letter.

As part of the ticket deal, Hammett would have to pay for most of a purported trip for Olympic officials to visit Vancouver and Whistler. That included airfare, hotel suites, meals and spa treatments. According to the $112,000 invoice and letter, NOC officials took the five-day trip in October 2008. The invoice states costs were “courtesy of Pegazus sport tour.”

It’s unclear who might have gone on this VIP trip. Four Seasons staff confirmed that Joseph and David Bunevacz stayed at their hotels in Whistler and Vancouver during that period. The Times couldn’t identify anyone from the Hungarian National Olympic Committee who went on the excursion.

The trip — which was essential to the ticket deal — was to remain secret.

“Please understand that we are dealing with government officials … some may not view this trip as ‘official business,’ it is a delicate situation that takes a lot of patience and understanding as we have done business with most of these people for the past 6 Olympics and would not want unwanted scrutiny to come about because of our relationship,” Bunevacz wrote.

The Bunevaczes’ past

Today, Hammett says he wonders whether there ever were any tickets. He acknowledges the lure of high profits clouded his judgment.

“I fully trusted they were the right people to do the deal,” he said. “It was a leap of faith that came back to burn me.”

Hammett didn’t know about David Bunevacz’s criminal past: In the early 1990s in three separate cases in the Los Angeles area, Bunevacz was convicted of burglary, grand theft and obtaining less than $400 under false pretenses, court officials told The Times. Case files have been destroyed, officials said, but dockets show he was sentenced to a short time in jail and a few years’ probation.

Criminal charges against David Bunevacz also are pending in the Philippines, a Quezon City court official said. Details weren’t available, but the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that a warrant was issued in 2008 for his arrest, alleging illegal disbursement of funds from a high-end cosmetic surgery and skin institute he and others operated there. Bunevacz had denied the allegations, the Inquirer reported.

In a brief interview with The Times Wednesday, David Bunevacz said no one was defrauded in the ticket deal, and that Hammett hadn’t paid in full.

“The deal went sour,” Bunevacz said, adding that Hammett’s money went straight to owners and suppliers. “No one is running off with money.”

Asked where the 17,000 tickets went, he said, “I had a lot more than 17,000 tickets,” and, “They’re being sold right now to fans.”

He would not comment further or provide any documentation.

He did say he is willing to repay Hammett, but they haven’t settled on how much. Hammett said he faces bankruptcy but hopes to recover the money so he can refund fans.

In a separate interview, Joseph Bunevacz questioned The Times’ focus on his family: “Why are you contacting me? I’m just a little fish, and Hungary is not that big of a country.”

He said he has been in the travel business for more than 35 years, working at a number of Olympics. He said he is an “outside marketing person” for the Hungarian Olympic Committee and is an executive at Pegazus Sport Tours, where he is their “problem solver.”

Pegazus Sport Tours Deputy CEO Balázs Kamuti said the elder Bunevacz has been a “reliable” business partner since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. But, he said, Bunevacz has used the company’s name improperly in the past and has no relationship with Pegazus now.

“We want to make clear that Pegazus Sport Tours Ltd had never been involved (in) any illegal action, neither now nor in the past,” Kamuti wrote.

Pegazus received 5,500 Vancouver Games tickets for Hungary and Spain, he said.

Zoltán Molnár, secretary general of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, speaking through an interpreter last week in Vancouver, said Joseph Bunevacz, whom he’s met, doesn’t deal directly with the NOC. “We don’t know what kind of ties he has.”

Molnár said that until 2000, Hungary handled its own ticket sales at a “huge loss for the Olympic committee because we don’t have the staff to sell it.”

He said Pegazus pays a flat sponsorship fee to be the exclusive ticket agent. He did not reveal the fee, but said it was a “low-middle-level” sponsor. He said the committee’s overall budget is painfully small: $2 million to $2.5 million, including sponsorships.

Fans and industry hit by fallout

Much of the money Hammett was paying out was collected from his customers, including hundreds of individuals and 20 ticket brokers planning to scalp the tickets.

Mario Livich, CEO of ShowTime Tickets, a major ticket reseller based in Vancouver, considered investing in the Bunevacz deal. Although David Bunevacz told him the tickets were coming from NOCs, Livich said he backed away from the deal because the Bunevaczes wouldn’t put up any hard assets to secure the contract.

Livich said he trusted Hammett, however, and signed a deal with him for about $1 million in tickets: “He’s got a good track record.”

Livich gave Hammett a substantial amount of money as a deposit but received no tickets from him.

“We’ve gone through hell to get tickets from other sources and deliver tickets to customers,” he said. “We’ve had to purchase tickets at inflated prices.”

He’s considering legal action against Hammett.

Bob Bernstein, owner of eSeats.com, an Arizona ticket retailer, already has sued Hammett.

Bernstein said he bought tickets from Hammett for the Beijing Olympics, the Kentucky Derby and the World Cup. But this time he was left with nothing after he paid Hammett more than $400,000 for about 1,200 Vancouver tickets.

Bernstein acknowledges everyone takes a risk by not buying from an official agency: “This isn’t the box office.”

For many Olympics fans, it wasn’t about a business risk; it was about a chance for that once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Cheryl Biederman, 49, of Santa Barbara, Calif., learned shortly before the Games that she wouldn’t get the four figure-skating tickets she’d ordered from eSeats.com, because it hadn’t received them from Hammett.

“Of course I was flipping out,” Biederman recalled. She wasn’t worried about the $1,350 she spent because her credit-card company gave her financial protection. Her bigger concern was being able to see the skating.

She ultimately found tickets on eBay, and Bernstein reimbursed her.

Olympic officials looking at strategies

David Cobb, deputy CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), said his organization received no evidence during the Games that any NOC or official agents violated ticket-sales rules. He said VANOC was proactive before the Games, scrutinizing ticket orders for suspicious requests. He said early concerns that tickets would be sold to scalpers led them to reduce a few countries’ ticket allotments. He wouldn’t name the countries.

The NOCs “assumed we’d fill the orders and (they could) pass them on to brokers. They didn’t get the allocation and got stuck breaking those promises,” he said.

As the Vancouver Games draw to a close, and planning is well under way for future games, Cobb said he hopes officials in those venues will adopt similar practices.

Officials of the London 2012 Games say they’re still working on their ticketing strategy.

“We will discuss any learnings from Vancouver with VANOC and the IOC as part of an official post-Games debrief which will bring together experiences from all key audiences,” officials said in a written statement.

Seattle Times reporter Ron Judd and Times researcher Gene Balk contributed to this report.

Christine Willmsen: 206-464-3261 or cwillmsen@seattletimes.com

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Comments (62) Hide comments / Show comments
So what else is new? You know what the greatest hypocrisy is? That the Olympics throw out any athlete that has a hint of a banned substance in… Posted on February 27, 2010 at 10:17 PM by mamoman. Jump to comment
Everyone in this story, except for the end customers who lost money, is a scoundrel. From the IOC (as corrupt an organization you’ll ever… Posted on February 27, 2010 at 10:38 PM by i got nuthin. Jump to comment
The guy is a scalper, not a broker. I hate Ticketmaster, but at least they provide a service, and their service charges are reasonable. These… Posted on February 27, 2010 at 11:37 PM by soundguy. Jump to comment

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Tickets for the May 1 mega fight between 32-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) and 38-year-old WBA welterweight (147 pounds) super world champion, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will go on sale at 10 a.m. West Coast Time, and, 1 p.m., East Coast Time on Tuesday, March 2, according to a release from Golden Boy Promotions.

The first day of ticket sales coincides with the first day of a three-day press tour scheduled to begin in New York, and then travel to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and to end in Los Angeles, on Thursday.

Prices for the fight range from $150, $300, $600, $1,000, and, $1,250, and are limited to 10 per individual, and, the $150 tickets are limited to two per person as part of that 10-ticket limit. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to Tixx.com or call 1.800.688.4000

A five-time champion, Mayweather is coming off of September’s lopsided, 12-round uanimous decision over Mexican great, Juan Marquez, and Mosley, off of a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout of another excellent Mexican fighter in Antonio Margarito, who was stopped for the first time in his career by Mosley.

One of the stipulations of the bout agreement was an immediate rematch for Mayweather, as well as the fact that both combatants will be subjected to Olympic-style, randomly blood, and, urinalysis testing.

But fans, nationwide, won’t have to wait until May to get what could be perhaps an up-close and personal view of the two future Hall Of Famers, who might just be coming to a theater near you.

The lead promoter for the tour is Golden Boy Promotions.

Below is the schedule of the fighters’ promotional tour, which begins on March 2 with stops in New York, Washington, D.C., and, Los Angeles.

Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley Press Tour Dates.

Tuesday, March 2: Nokia Theatre, Times Square, New York City

Wednesday, March 3: The Lincoln Theatre, Washington, D.C.

Thursday, March 4: Nokia Plaza’s L.A. Live, Los Angeles

Lincoln Theater

When: Wednesday, March 3, noon

Where: Lincoln Theater, 1215 U Street Northwest

Photo-op at Famous DC Landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl to take place immediately after press conference.

Who: Floyd Mayweather, six-time world champion in five divisions.

Shane Mosley, WBA welterweight world champion.

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions

Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions

Roger Mayweather, Mayweather’s trainer

Naazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer

What: Press conference to announce May 1 Mayweather-Mosley bout

**Note that the event is open to the public free of charge. Fans encouraged to arrive early.

Time: Doors open at 11 a.m.; start time is noon.

Complimentary lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl will be provided following event.

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Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. Wicked follows these two unlikely friends and college roommates grow into very different women: The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Based on the Novel by Gregory Maguire, the music and lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell) with a Book by Winnie Holzman.

to get tickets for Wicked go to http://www.wwwtixx.com
PERFORMANCE TIMES:
Evenings – Tuesday at 7pm | Wednesday – Saturday at 8pm
Matinees – Wednesday & Saturday at 2pm | Sunday at 3pm

RUNNING TIME:
2 hours & 30 minutes with one intermission of 15 minutes

REVIEWS:

“WICKED tickets new york works because it has something Broadway musicals, so addicted to facetiousness and camp, have largely given up on: a story that adults can take seriously. Adapted by Winnie Holzman from the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, the musical reimagines a children’s tale in grown-up psychopolitical terms a lot more successfully than, say Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine did for ‘Into The Woods’. As the Wizard (Joel Grey) puts it, “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy.” Imagine: a family musical that might make the Bush Administration squirm. Which isn’t to say WICKED, under Joe Mantello’s assured direction, lacks funs. The show gets laughs by playing off famous bits from the movie. It also provides a showcase for two fabulous Broadway stars. Kristin Chenoweth, the Kewpie doll who won a Tony for ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’ is a perfect delight as Glinda. In the tougher role of Elphaba, Idina Menzel is possibly even better, a mix of vulnerability and feminist passion, with a rock voice to raise the roof. With an awful lot of plot to establish, the show drags in spots. But IF EVERY MUSICAL HAD A BRAIN, A HEART AND THE COURAGE OF WICKED, BROADWAY REALLY WOULD BE A MAGICAL PLACE.”

“HOORAY! BROADWAY’S GOT A BIG NEW MUSICAL THAT’S GOOD ENOUGH TO RUN FOR A DECADE OR TWO! If it doesn’t please you, you’re too tough to please. It’s funny and touching and full of beans (not to mention child-friendly). Kristin Chenoweth finally has a full-fledged star part that’s worthy of her. Broadway buffs have been waiting for her to land a bona fide star part in a successful show. Well, this is it. She sings like a cherub and acts like a damned good actress, and Stephen Schwartz has written her a show-stopping comic turn. I can’t imagine anyone in the world have done a better job as Glinda. It’s going to make her a star right this minute. Idina Menzel nails her co-starring part with equal aplomb. Not only does she look great in green, but she blends pathos and warmth in just the right proportions. Joel Grey, bless him, is back on stage. Stephen Schwartz has given us the most poignant new Broadway ballad to come along in ages. Wayne Cilento has choreographed with dapper precision — this show moves. You’ll be enchanted by director Joe Mantello and set designer Eugene Lee’s miraculously elaborate-looking Kingdom of Oz. GO!”

- Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal

Buy or Browse Wicked Tickets

“WICKED IS STEEPED IN TALENT!

As Glinda the Good Witch, Kristin Chenoweth is giving jaw-dropping demonstrations of the science of show-biz aeronautics. She proves that nothing can top undiluted star power. It’s amazing how she keeps metamorphosing before your eyes and ears. Her voice shifting between operetta-ish trills and Broadway brass, her posture melting between prom-queen vampiness and martial arts moves, she evokes everyone from Jeanette MacDonald to Cameron Diaz, from Mary Martin to Madonna. She turns one-liners into something so startling that you have to laugh. Chenoweth is the real thing, melding decades of performing traditions into something shiny and new. Be very grateful that she has returned to the stage.

As the Wicked Witch of the West, the talented Idina Menzel is a vocal powerhouse and a commanding presence. She will no doubt dazzle audiences.

Directed by the understandably in-demand Joe Mantello, WICKED’S cast features gold-standard veterans, Joel Grey and Carole Shelley, and bright rising talents, Norbert Leo Butz and Christopher Fitzgerald. The top-flight designers include Susan Hilferty (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting) and Eugene Lee, whose sets are an ingeniously arranged technoscape of wheels and cogs overseen by the wondrous metal dragon that rests atop the proscenium.

There are visual and verbal jokes aplenty in this recreation of Baum’s enchanted land where Glinda and Elphaba get to know each other long before a little brat named Dorothy shows up. The contrast between the young women, who wind up as reluctant roommates at sorcery school, is used to examine a society that values surface over substance, the illusion of doing good over the genuinely noble act. It goes without saying that you don’t have to squint to fine parallels with a certain contemporary Western nation in which artful presidential photo ops win more votes than legislative change.”

- Ben Brantley, The New York Times

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Carole King James Taylor concert tour tickets on sale now at
http://www.wwwtixx.com/james_taylor_tickets.html

Carole King and James Taylor will appear on the Today Show and the Late Show with David Letterman,
promoting their highly-anticipated “Troubadour Reunion” world tour.

The Today Show is co-anchored by Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira and airs on NBC, Monday through Friday from 7am – 11am ET/PT.
For more information, please visit: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29055142/

The Late Show with David Letterman airs weeknights on CBS at 11:35pm ET/PT. Also appearing on the program will be Claire Danes and Will Arnett.
For more information, please visit: http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/show_info/this_weeks_guests.php

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Below is our current list of discount Broadway tickets and the various types of ticket offers available through through our Discount Broadway Ticket Guide. Membership will get you access to all the discounts listed below.
This Broadway Ticket price page changes often thoughout the day.

for the latest listings go to Tixx.com

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