By Andrew Gans
15 May 2006

The national tour of Stephen Schwartz's Wicked has booked an encore engagement at Boston's Opera House for 2007.

The hit musical about the unlikely friendship between two not-so-wicked witches, will again play the famed Boston venue Sept. 12-Oct. 14, 2007. The tour of Wicked — currently headed by Julia Murney as Elphaba and Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda — ended its initial run at the Opera House May 14. It begins an engagement at Atlanta's Fox Theatre May 17.

Wicked explores the early life of the witches of Oz: Glinda and Elphaba. The two main characters meet at Shiz, a school where both hope to take up sorcery. Glinda is madly popular and Elphaba is, well, green. By a misunderstanding, they wind up roommates and, after an initial period of mutual loathing, begin to learn something about each other. Their life paths continue to intersect through a shared love, entry into the Emerald City and interaction with the Wizard himself. Eventually, their choices and convictions take them on widely different paths.

Wicked, with a book by Winnie Holzman, began previews on Broadway Oct. 8, 2003, with an official opening Oct. 30, 2003. The Broadway company — directed by Joe Mantello, who repeated his duties for the tour — continues to play the Gershwin Theatre.

For more information about Wicked visit www.wickedthemusical.com.