Make Their Garden Grow: Special Benefit Performance of Wicked Set for Oct. 7

By Andrew Gans
10 Sep 2007

A special benefit performance of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Wicked will be presented Oct. 7 at 8 PM at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre.

The extra performance will benefit the New York Restoration Project's Friendship Garden, a community garden located in upper Manhattan that is currently being restored.

The garden was designed by Wicked's associate set designer, Edward Pierce, and is located at West 150th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The garden is scheduled to open on Wicked Day, Oct. 28, at a public ceremony hosted by the founder of the New York Restoration Project, Bette Midler.

The Friendship Garden, according to a press statement, "will become a public green oasis in one of New York City's underserved neighborhoods. The garden will feature elements inspired by Wicked including a yellow brick road and likenesses of the musical's characters, as well as flexible space for use by the neighborhood and the New Heights Academy, a charter school adjacent to the garden."

Tickets for the benefit performance — priced $150-$500 — are available by calling (212) 307-4100 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

For more information about the New York Restoration Project, visit www.NYRP.org.