Some people crinkle. Others fold. Some pray, others kiss. These are just a few of the strategies being used when people fill out their entry forms for the drawing for tickets to "Wicked."

Two hours before each performance of the sold-out hit musical, you can put your name into the witch's cauldron, 30 minutes later, they call the winners. The tour sells 20 tickets for $25 each, cash only, and they're great seats.

"What I've found, is that in most markets, we're typically in our last week before we hit numbers near 300 (people in line)," said Steve Quinn, company manager for the national tour, "but in this market, we've been pretty consistent."

And the fans are coming, regardless of the weather, "last Wednesday, when it rained all day, we had our highest numbers," Quinn said, "407!"

After talking about how much he and the company had been enjoying themselves, "it's beautiful here, the architecture, the flowers at Temple Square. It's been great," Quinn commented on the energy at the shows, "It's incredible. It's almost like a rock concert in many ways. The energy is through the roof — these people have waited so long."

Berrett Maynard of Taylorsville was at the show on its second night and has stood in line eight times since, "I'm dying to see it again," he said, "the sets are incredible, Donna's (Vivino) voice is amazing, I just fell in love with it. I'll be here every night until it closes."

Lucky are the folks who work downtown and just wander over nightly to try their luck, "I've been here five or six times," said Teri Kiehn of West Jordan, "My husband said he'd come down if I won, and if we don't, he'll have dinner on the table. So I win either way," she said with a chuckle.

As Kiehn soaked up the sun, her new friend and line partner, Melissa Hurst, who works one block away, walked up. "I've been here every night," she said. The two women joked that when first-timers win, they get a little angry, "I always think, 'you haven't paid your dues!'"

Hurst is back even though she just won the lottery the night before and enjoyed the show from the fourth row, "It is amazing! It's SO great."

In a move to double her chances, Charlene Whitehead moved through the crowd to see if anyone else was there alone, "I'm hoping to double my odds," she said also commenting that she'd never seen it but heard it "was fantastic."

As the winners were called by men wearing witch hats, cheers and groans could be heard as the crowd kept close track of how many slots were left to fill.

With cash and IDs in hand, the winners were escorted into the lobby where they bought the hottest ticket in town, "I owe her dinner now," said Vicki Carter, South Jordan, of her friend who had gushed about the show, "I told her she HAS to do this," said friend Lynda Tierney, "I'm an usher. I've seen it six times and I actually bought a ticket so I could make sure I could see it sitting instead of standing, just once."

Cheryl Dalley and her friend, also with the golden tickets, mused that they knew nothing about the show, it was their first time in line, but we're looking forward to it. They did not reveal whether they'd folded, crinkled or prayed.

E-mail: ehansen@desnews.com