Wicked cast sings Beatles for charity

APPLETON - As singers and dancers confidently rocked out at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, you'd be surprised to learn those on stage are more familiar with the Land of Oz, than the British invasion.

But for one night, Wicked is meeting John, Paul, George and Ringo, and doing it for a good cause.

"We like to pay back when we can, the show's been very, very popular of course," Wicked stage manager Peter Van Dyke said.

Van Dyke says on their day off, the cast is performing a Beatles themed show and auctioning off some Wicked memorabilia to raise money for two aids support groups, Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids and the Aids Resource Center of Wisconsin. The performing arts center's mission-based activities will also benefit.

"It's what we do here, it's the arts, it's keeping the arts vibrant and alive in our community," Tara Fletcher with the PAC said.

Van Dyke says many in theater are passionate about aids research and education. He says while it has become a more livable disease in the US, it threatens many in the third world.

"I think those of us who remember those days when we were losing friends right and left, we know what it's like for people in South Africa who are losing their families and losing their children," Van Dyke said.

He says the cast is happy to share their talents with an audience and arts center that is eager to hear.

"To give the Fox Cities community another opportunity to interact with this cast who is so wonderful and so talented," Fletcher said.

After all, there's nothing wicked about generosity.