I'm looking at tickets for Wicked at the Ford Theater for early September. There are seats mid balcony left. Are these terrible seats? I've not been to this lovely theater. I'm not sure I have time to make it down to the box office so may have to go with Ticketmaster.

Another option might be Second City. My daughter (age 13) is pretty mature and watches SNL with me - but hope it wouldn't be too embarassing?

The balcony seats are great, grab them.

Your daughter will LOVE Wicked. I took all the women in my family and my 10 year old Grand-daughter and she almost flew off the balcony herself. She wears her two Wicked shirts constantly and is now 11 and taller than I am.

SNL is ok, but there is no comparison, IMHO, to Wicked. Any seats are ok, even the last row of the balcony. It's a good house. I saw it on the first floor and I saw it in the balcony about 1/2 way back on the top tier. The kids from 9-15 years old LOVE this show. The teens often come to the show with the stuffed Lion or other characters in hand and wave them etc.
It's about girls' choices and more. She would be perfect.

Totally agree with JJ5. I actually can't comment on the seats, as I didn't see the show in Chicago, but you definitely can't compare Second City and Wicked. I love Second City and see one of their shows almost every time I am in Chicago. I also think it would be appropriate for most 13 year olds. But Wicked blows it away - especially for a girl that age. Enjoy!

Wicked Wicked Wicked! Most of the middle schools and high schools in the Madison Wi area are busing their music students down to see Wicked. Everyone I've talked to-from high school senior guys to seventh grade girls-loved Wicked.

Second City is fun, but as the 2 previous posters said, there's no comparison.

On a personal note, I saw Wicked this summer and really didn't expect to enjoy it.I loved it and play the sound track all the time.We sat midway up the balcony and sightlines were fine.

Thank you so much! When I tried to purchase online the tickets had already gone up to the last row balcony for Sunday matinee. Called the Ticketmaster line and got balcony left row L. I'm excited! They say they can e-mail my tickets so I'm anxiously waiting by the computer.

My daughter wants to see it for her birthday. I know Broadway, but what's the cheapest way in Chicago? By that I mean comparative shopping, thanks.

We saw Wicked in Chicago last Thanksgiving with our then 14 & 17 yr old daughters. Absolutely agree with other posters, kids LOVED it. They bought the CD and played it for days after.

LLindaC - I'm not sure I quite understand your question. Are you looking for the cheapest way to buy Wicked tickets in Chicago? If so, the cheapest way is to do rush - enter the lottery for same day tickets at the box office. But, you don't necessarily have very high odds of actually getting tickets, so not a good idea if you really want to go.

Next best would typically be to buy tickets through the official seller. I believe it's ticketmaster, but if you go to www.broadwayinchicago.com you can see for sure. Just click the "buy tickets" link from there. Problem with that is that it's a very popular show, so if you haven't planned in advance, they may be sold out.

If you need to buy tickets to a sold-out show, you could check with your hotel concierge if you're staying in a hotel. Otherwise, try the Chicago ticket resellers (not sure who they are, but they may have been mentioned here in the past) or places like www.craigslist.com and www.ebay.com

And if you want to see prices, if that was your question- you can see them at www.ticketmaster.com Ford Theatre for the Performing Arts (old Oriental).

Note that ticketmaster also has nasty fees, and that they are a fact of life on Wicked unless you can get them in person or through concierge. And I do know several people who tried this summer and failed. This I would bite the bullet and pay the fees.

You can also buy them (usually at face value) at www.stubhub.com

LLinda C,

The price ranges are prohibitive here for a group, IMHO. I looked on ticketmaster and I was a bit surprised, as I think they are even higher than when I took the kids. On the secondary buyers they are selling the cheap seats at $68. I think that you can get them in the $40-50 dollar range if you get to the boxoffice.

By the time I paid for the entire group (6 of us) in May '05 and with all the fees through ticketmaster, I think it ran me about 400 plus bucks for the balcony.

thank you....I checked on different places and found a wide range of prices. I appreciate your advice!

The touring companies are still a lot cheaper than Broadway!

GREAT show. Buy the CD before and get to know the music and some of the story. It will add to the enjoyment - a LOT!

Buy the CD? Done that. My daughter did a "Broadway Boot Camp" and has been singing the songs NONSTOP. This is her 13th birthday, we're flying to Chicago for the show and dinner. It is cute, isn't it?

It's more than cute. What a great mom!

Buy a poster or program and hang out at the stage door with a Sharpie. Don't forget the camera!

They wouldn't let us take cameras into the show, and actually took one away from someone right in front of me, because she was taking a picture with flash of the stageset. I wondered where they kept it for the duration. I had a bag from shopping and they told me to put it under my seat- and the usher looked into the contents, as well.

It has a lot to do with copyright because they don't want the set decoration and technique to become recognizable or copied etc.

I myself would not take a camera into the Ford.

The first time I saw this show I knew NOTHING about it, nor heard one note of the music and still loved all the double entendres etc. and got most of political aspects.

The second time, when I was in the bathroom line, a group of 20-somethings from several different cultures, asked me about 10 questions because they had no context and never had seen Judy Garland's "Wizard of Oz"
They were totally confused about characters "talked" about but never seen.

So I've come to the point that I like to ask the young adults here at school when they go, if they have seen the movie, "Wizzard of Oz". About 90% have seen the movie several times.

You definitely do not HAVE to see the movie, but I think it helps to know about certain outcomes beforehand.

I have to admit, that the second time, I got a lot more of the asides and undertones. One reason was not just from repetition but because Ana Gasteyer was clearer, louder, and had more comic ability than the first Elphaba I saw.

The only nays I have heard are concerning the music. I myself think almost all the songs are good. Some music people and also on Fodors say that nothing "sticks in their head" like old time Broadway. I found that "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" both stuck in mine from the first I heard them.

Oh my Toto....never seen "Oz?" We know every line and even did a frame by frame viewing once of all the bloopers and mistakes! Watch Dorothy's pigtails as she travels along the yellow brick road. They change in length about 5 times, lol.

A great gift idea for the big Wicked fan - The Grimmerie. The name comes from the book of spells, but the published Grimmerie is a very detailed account of the play, the origin of the songs with backstorys and lyrics, detailed sketches of the set and costumes...in short, every bit of minutia associated with the play. It is a fabulous gift for the Wicked-obsessed.

LLindaC, seriously...check out The Grimmerie on amazon.com. They have it at a GREAT price! Your daughter will love it. Buy it as an early birthday present and let her just immerse herself in the details of the show. Totally amazing!