‘Wicked’ tickets go on sale Saturday

5/16/2013

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 9 a.m. for the popular Theater League presentation of Wicked at the Stranahan Theater Aug. 14-Sept. 1.

When the Broadway production was in Toledo in 2010 numerous shows sold out. Tickets for the return engagement start at $38 and will be available at the Stranahan Theater box office, 4645 Heatherdowns Boulevard, online at theaterleague.com and stranahantheater.org or by calling 419-381-8851. Tickets are currently available to groups of 20 or more by calling 1-866-31-GROUP (47687).

Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz, and is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues) and features musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…).

For information on show times go to www.stranahantheater.com.

‘Empowering’
Brad Pitt says it was important for his partner, Angelina Jolie, to share her story about having her breasts removed to avoid cancer “and that others would understand it doesn’t have to be a scary thing.”

In an interview published Wednesday in USA Today, the actor said: “In fact, it can be an empowering thing, and something that makes you stronger and makes us stronger.”

Jolie revealed Tuesday in an op-ed article in the New York Times that she had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction for an inherited gene mutation that put her at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Pitt called the experience “an emotional and beautifully inspiring few months.”

Ailing
Singer Beyonce canceled her show in Antwerp, Belgium, on Tuesday because of dehydration and exhaustion, her representatives said. The cancellation comes after multiple media outlets speculated over the weekend that Beyonce, 31, may be pregnant with her second child.

The “Single Ladies” singer is on the Europe leg of a world tour, part of her return to music after taking a year off following the birth of daughter Blue Ivy, the first child for Beyonce and her rapper-husband, Jay-Z.

Nominee
Husband-wife duo Shovels & Rope is the top nominee for this year’s Americana Honors & Awards, but longtime favorites Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris lurk nearby.

Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent earned four nominations, including album, song, and emerging artist of the year. Miller, the Americana Music Association’s most-awarded artist, and Harris have three nominations apiece.

The awards will be held Sept. 18 at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The nominations were announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Miller and Harris were nominated for top honor artist of the year with Dwight Yoakam and Richard Thompson.

The Lumineers’ omnipresent hit “Ho Hey” is among the nominees for song of the year with Shovels & Ropes’ “Birmingham,” JD McPherson’s “North Side Gal,” and Thompson’s “Good Things Happen to Bad People.”