Happy Stuart Fisher Day!
January 23: Despite the rumour mill working overtime, Wicked producer John Frost (pictured) confirms that casting has not yet been finalised for the blockbuster musical. Frost tells The Age that casting for the Australian premiere season should be confirmed shortly.
February 5: Lucy Durack and Amanda Harrison win the prize roles of Glinda and Elphaba in Wicked. Durack tells AussieTheatre.com from New York: "Words cannot describe how excited I am by this whole thing. I feel so lucky being given this opportunity, it is something I have wanted to do for so long and I am so very grateful." Harrison says: "I’ve worked for 15 years in this industry and done some amazing things but this is it - this is the biggest thing I have ever done."
February 6: AussieTheatre.com exclusively reveals that Sydney-sider Penny McNamee has been cast as Nessa.
February 12: Rob Guest (The Wizard), Maggie Kirkpatrick (Morrible), Rob Mills (Fiyero) and Anthony Callea (Boq) join the cast.
February 13: Wicked takes an extraordinary $2.3 million in advance sales in just three hours, a new record for musical theatre in Australia.
April 14: The full cast is announced. In addition to the previously announced cast, it includes Rodney Dobson, Anton Berezin, Ross Hannaford, Anthony Costanzo, Todd Hampton, Ryan Sheppard, Danial J Brown, James Smith, Lockhart Brownlie, Michael Snell, Romina Villafranca, Deanna O'Leary, Liz Stiles, Christina Tan, Zoe Gertz, Patrice Tipoki, Melanie Hawkins, Ellen Simpson, Johanna Allen, James Maxfield, Glen Oliver, Matthew Hamilton, Emma Delmenico, Suzanne Steele and Suzie Mathers.
April 28: Wicked hits $7 million in advance sales.
April 29: Rob Mills (pictured) tells AussieTheatre.com that Wicked has been a three-year dream. He says: "I saw it and listened to the songs over and over again and absolutely loved it. I remember ringing my manager the next day and said I desperately wanted an audition. I’ve been in love with the show for three years and wanted to do the role from the day I first heard the recording."
June 8: A Wicked television special hosted by Rob Guest is filmed at Foxtel's North Ryde studios. It airs in early July ahead of the show's official opening in Melbourne.
June 27: Wicked plays its first preview performance at the Regent Theatre.
June 29: Drama emerges after illegal recordings from the first preview of the show are placed on internet sharing website You Tube.
July 10: Just days before opening, the show's producers confirm they will run a Broadway-style lottery system, giving cheap tickets away to performances on a daily basis.
July 12: Wicked opens in spectacular fashion in front of a sell-out audience at the Regent Theatre. The performance commences around 10 minutes late, at 7.10pm, but everything goes off without a hitch. The performance receives a standing ovation from the audience, who earlier walked the 'green carpet'.
July 12: One of the most spectacular opening night parties in Australian theatre history is held in Melbourne following the first official performance of the musical. The cast is given star treatment at the Sofitel, with theatre-goers partying into the early hours.
July 13: Jemma Stevenson replaces Amanda Harrison at the matinee performance of the musical.
July 18: Wicked co-producer John Frost says the reaction and box office success of the show has exceeded his "wildest expectations" as news comes through that the musical has broken the one-day box office record for Melbourne theatre.
August 31: The Wicked cast appear on Backyard Blitz in a special tribute to Lauren Huxley.
September 7: The cast appear at Hats Off in Melbourne, and it is announced they will perform at Light The Night in Sydney.
September 27: Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack sing the National Anthem at one of the world's most prestigious sporting events, the AFL Grand Final.
September 30: Wicked star Rob Guest suffers a stroke at his Melbourne home, and is rushed to hospital. The legendary theatre actor is left to fight for his life.
October 1: The Australian theatre industry and the Wicked company are shocked by the death of Rob Guest. Tributes flow in as news of his passing makes headlines around the world. "Rob Guest is one of Australian music theatre’s biggest stars: there have been few bigger in our lifetime," John Frost says.
October 2: The Wicked cast return to the stage for the first time since Rob Guest's passing and deliver an emotion-filled performance.
October 10: A funeral is held for Rob Guest.
October 27: Bert Newton is announced as Rob Guest's replacement.
November 2: Wicked hits $30 million in sales.
November 26: Anthony Callea is the first principal cast member to announce his departure from the show. It's confirmed that Stuart Fisher will take over the role of Boq.
November 27: John Frost says the show has been so successful in Melbourne that it will probably stay at the Regent Theatre for another year at least.