Wicked (musical): History and Key Facts

Wicked (known in full as Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is loosely based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, a reimagining of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and its 1939 film adaptation. Set in the Land of Oz before and after Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the musical explores the complex relationship between Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland – the future Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good — as they are tested by their contrasting perspectives, shared love interest, and reactions to the Wizard's corrupt rule, culminating in Elphaba's tragic fall.

Produced by Universal Stage Productions with producers Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt and David Stone, director Joe Mantello and choreographer Wayne Cilento, the original production of Wicked premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, after completing pre-Broadway tryouts at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in May and June of that year. Its original stars included Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. Despite mixed reviews, the production won three Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award.

Long-running productions of Wicked include a West End production at the Apollo Victoria Theatre that has played over 7,407 performances, as well as multiple North American tours since 2005. The musical has broken several weekly box-office records around the world; in January 2011, the Broadway, London, and North American touring productions simultaneously broke their records for the highest weekly gross. In the final week of 2024, the Broadway production became the first to earn over US$5 million in a single week. Wicked surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue in 2016, joining The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King as the only shows to do so. In 2017, it surpassed The Phantom of the Opera to become Broadway's second-highest grossing musical as of 2026.

A two-part film adaptation was directed by Jon M. Chu and starred Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. The first part, featuring extended cameos by Menzel and Chenoweth, was released on November 22, 2024 and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture among numerous other accolades. The second part, Wicked: For Good, was released on November 21, 2025.

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