Megan Hilty and author Gregory Maguire Bring WICKED to the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Oct.15

FULLERTON, CA-The Muckenthaler Cultural Center, will host a special VIP event on Thursday, October 15, at 7:00 p.m., featuring an exclusive appearance by Gregory Maguire, author of the bestselling novel WICKED, and a special performance by Megan Hilty, reprising her role as Glinda, with Broadway guests singing favorite songs from the Tony® Award-winning musical inspired by the book. This will be Gregory Maguire's only appearance in California this year.

Gregory Maguire is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (and its two sequels Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men), Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children. Many of Maguire's adult novels are revisionist retellings of classic children's stories: for example, in WICKED he transformed the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into the sympathetic protagonist Elphaba.

WICKED was adapted into the Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name, with songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. Broadway star Megan Hilty is best known for her role as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, in New York, Los Angeles and on the national tour of the musical. She recently joined Emmy® Award-winning star Allison Janney (and former Elphaba Stephanie J. Block) in the new musical adaptation of the 1980 film 9 to 5. Megan can also be heard as the singing voice of Snow White in the animated feature film Shrek the Third.

The "Wicked" event is a VIP pre-party for the Center's Third Annual Moonlight Masquerade Gala, presented by Salon Lujon Day Spa and Colette's Catering, to be held on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 5 p.m. The $150 ticket will get you into both events. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Muckenthaler Cultural Center's educational programs, which serve all of Orange County.

Tickets are limited, and can be purchased by calling the ticket hotline at 866-411-1212 or visiting www.TheMuck.org.

The mission of the Historic Muckenthaler Cultural Center, the Muck, is to provide the community with experiences that stimulate creativity and imagination, and to conserve the heritage of the Muckenthaler Estate. The Italian Renaissance-style mansion was built by Walter and Adella Muckenthaler in 1924 on eight acres located atop a hill in Fullerton. In 1965, Adella and her son donated the estate to the City of Fullerton with the condition that it be turned into a cultural center. The Muckenthaler Cultural Center provides extraordinary exhibitions, performances and stimulating educational programs to Orange Count's diverse communities and beyond. The Muck is located at 1201 W. Malvern Avenue.

For more information about this or other events at the Muck, please visit www.TheMuck.org or call 714-738-6595.

Michael Lawrence Quintos is a quiet, mild-mannered Art Director by day. But as night falls, he regularly performs on various stages everywhere as a Counter-Tenor soloist, actor, and dancer for The Men Alive Chorus since 2002. He's sung everything from Broadway, Jazz, R&B, Classical, Gospel and Pop. His musical theater roots started early, performing in various school musical productions and a couple of nationally-televised programs. The performing bug eventually brought him a brief championship run in the Philippines' version of "Star Search" before moving to Las Vegas at age 11. College brought him out to Orange County, California, where he earned a BFA in Graphic Design and a BA in Film Screenwriting. He has spent several years as a designer and art director for various entertainment company clients, while spending his free time watching or performing in shows. Follow Michael on Twitter at: twitter.com/cre8iveMLQ.

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