Ready to give birth

Wicked co-producer John Frost has likened Wicked's opening night on July 12 to giving birth, saying a long journey is ahead to ensure the show remains successful in the long-term.

Speaking with AussieTheatre.com in the lead-up to this month's Australian premiere, a confident Frost said the entire Wicked experience has been incredible, but he's determined not to get too carried away too early."

We're going to have this child on July 12 and then the hard bit comes which is raising it and bringing it up and making sure it's healthy," Frost said."I'm not getting over-relaxed where I can say this is going to be huge. I am hoping it will be but you always hold a bit in reserve."

Wicked, which tells the back story to The Wizard Of Oz, is the largest project Frost has ever worked on.

"It is the biggest show I have ever undertaken, and where I have been lucky is that I have had the joy of working on it for two years and have had the opportunity to tick the right boxes marketing wise and creatively," he said.

"It is one of the biggest shows Australia has ever seen and it's huge down here - you can feel the buzz on the streets of Melbourne."

Frost said he would like to keep Wicked in Melbourne for 18 months, but said it is possible it could stay for longer.

"There's thoughts of other places but at this point in time we are totally concentrating on Melbourne and obviously the show needs to meet certain targets before we can even consider taking it somewhere else," he said.

The confident Frost said opening Wicked in July was "strategically planned", giving the show the opportunity to work through into different holiday periods and survive the cold winter period based on the excitement of the initial months.Wicked opens at the Regent Theatre on July 12.

Aussietheatre.com