Audiences have been cheering for Wicked, the most complete, exciting and satisfying, musical to come by Broadway in some time. Inspired by the legendary story of The Wizard of Oz, fans of the movie will be fascinated by all the back stories here, which answers such questions as “How did the two witches come to know each other?”, “Where did the flying monkeys come from?” and “Is Glinda really that good?”
Packed with spectacular, intense theatre and magical effects, Winnie Holzman’s script keeps the laughs coming as it cleverly makes several references to the film that spawned it.
Long before Dorothy dropped into the land of Oz, two girls met there. The one born with emerald-green skin is intelligent, fiery and a little bit misunderstood. While the other girl is pretty, ambitious and very popular. Wicked goes back in time and tells the story of how these two unlikely friends grew up to become Glinda, the Good Witch of the North and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
Told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz, Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship struggled through opposing personalities, a rivalry over the same love-interest, politics, and eventually, Elphaba’s public fall from grace.
Built on a soaring, modern by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman’s book, Wicked is a true spectacle for the eyes and ears with fantasy-filled twists and turns from Gregory Maguire’s incredibly imaginative back-story to The Wizard of Oz that has had audiences literally gasping with delight.
Not only that, Wicked is a truly heartfelt story of friendship and love. Richard Zoglin of TIME magazine said: “If every musical had a brain, a heart and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place!”
Wicked was the winner of three 2004 Tony Awards including prizes for Best Costume Design and Best Scenic Design. In 2009, it became the first Broadway show in history to gross over $2 million for one week of performances. The smash hit musical has broken all previous box office records and has already become a Broadway legend.
