'Wicked' Gets Set Up in Academy of Music For Six-Week Run
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- "Wicked," the musical, has rolled into town for a six-week run at the Academy of Music.
Today, crew members wer hard at work getting things ready for tomorrow's opening night.
Stagehands unloaded trunks off tractor-trailers and onto the stage where the sets and technical equipment were assembled.
A giant, smoke breathing, wing flapping dragon (affectionately known as "Ozwald" by cast and crew) also made its presence known.
Steve Quinn (below) has been road manager for the show for 8½ years.
"It's a big set," he tells KYW Newsradio. "I call it 'organized chaos,' because what looks like a disheveled mess behind me is actually very organized. And everything goes in its right place at its right time, and basically we put what we call the 'air show' up at the beginning of our load-in. And once that's done we start laying down the deck, and then tomorrow we add costumes, wigs, an orchestra, and a cast."
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And "Wicked" does something special for last-minute theatregoers: two and a half hours before each show, a random drawing is held for a limited number of orchestra seats, giving winners whose names are chosen the opportunity to buy the tickets for $25 apiece.
For more information go to kimmelcenter.org.
