TULSA, Okla. — The musical WICKED returns to Tulsa for three weeks of performances starting May 28, 2025.
This is the fifth time the traveling show has flown into the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, and 2 News Oklahoma got a backstage pass to meet the real wizards who make the magic happen.
WATCH: Behind-the-scenes wizards of Tulsa's WICKED
"You'll walk into this theatre, and you'll be transported immediately. You know you're going someplace special for the next two and half hours," said WICKED Company Manager Steve Quinn.
It takes brains, heart, courage, and two and a half days to turn this corner of Green Country into the Emerald City.
"We have 11 semi-trucks full of equipment that's filling up this theatre to become WICKED," said Quinn.
But before the audience can fill the seats, there's load-in. The traveling crew is joined by Tulsans to get the show running.
"There's 65 in the WICKED touring company, including cast, crew musicians, and so on and so forth. And then we add about - 85 locals working to get the show up and running we cut that to about 28 during the show, including 9 local musicians," said Quinn.
Matt Biltgen is the head carpenter, having been with the show for 21 years. "This is the fifth WICKED set I've built," said Biltgen.
He knows the set like the back of his hand. "The Emerald City drop weighs 1400 pounds, and it's got LED lights on it, over 1000 lights in it. So, it's the big scene where we do the Emerald City; you'll see it all lit up, and the entire stage goes green," said Biltgen.
The lighting is new this time around.
Biltgen said, "We just converted all of our conventional lights, so the show is a lot brighter, and there's multicolor now, so it's totally changed the look of the show."
The show, like Broadway, has the same effects and over $2 million worth of costumes. We are told that audiences should watch for a few extras as well. Quinn said, "We have a couple of bells and whistles, which I cannot spoil."
It takes precision and the efforts of 100 people behind the scenes to put on something this popular. Galinda's bubble is already flying high. "It's 55 feet in the air. This is our tape measure, and we level it. A dual-action thrust goes back and forth and sideways- it weighs about 6,000 pounds," said Biltgen.
It's a heavy lift to set up for the show, but these wizards are working their magic and say in one short day, they'll be ready to wow Tulsa again.
"Just to see the differences in our show. I think the movie is an amazing tribute to a wonderful Broadway show. I think we're a little bit better, but that's just me," said Quinn.
WICKED runs May 28 - June 16, 2025 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Tickets are still available for the three-week run. You can find them here.
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