“”Wicked,”” one of the top-20 longest-running shows on Broadway and loosely based on “”Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”” by Gregory Maguire, tells the story of “”The Wizard of Oz”” from the perspective of the witches. The two North American companies that have been touring performances of “”Wicked”” for the last 360 weeks have performed for more than 7.5 million people and grossed $1.5 billion. This second American tour kicked off in March of 2009 in Fort Myers, Fla.

This is the first time the show has played in Tucson, according to Mario Di Vetta, of Broadway in Tucson.

“”Audiences have been loving it,”” Di Vetta said. “”They are jumping to their feet at the end of the show and when the two witches take their bows, the audience roar is deafening.””

The show runs at the UA’s Centennial Hall throughout the month of January, with its opening night on the fifth of this month, and final performance on Jan. 23.

According to Di Vetta, the play has had sold-out audiences all week.