L.A.’s possibly ‘Wicked’ ways

TO mangle Shakespeare in the name of commercial theater: Is “Wicked” coming this way again or something?

A rumor has been swirling like a Kansas twister that the Broadway musical “Wicked” -- the megahit prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” that played to sold-out houses for seven weeks at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre last summer -- will return to the Pantages for a “sit-down” production (not one prohibiting standing ovations, just theater-ese for a show with an open-ended run).

If the rumor proves true, the Hollywood production will be the second open-ended run of “Wicked,” which parked itself at Chicago’s Ford Center for the Performing Arts in summer 2005 and, according to the producers, has been selling out since. The show is also enjoying a national tour, opens in London in September and, says David Stone, one of its lead producers, may soon see productions in Germany, Japan and Australia.

Stone says the “Wicked” producers are indeed eyeing the Pantages for another engagement but adds he cannot say whether it will be sit-down, stand-up or otherwise. He will add only that, because of high demand, the producers hope to bring the show back in 2007 or early 2008 for a run of “more than seven weeks” and that, because a big show requires a big theater, “it has to be at the Pantages.”

Diane Haithman