Wicked (musical)

Wicked (full title *Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz*) is a stage musical. Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics, and Winnie Holzman wrote the book. The show is loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which itself reimagines L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz* and its famous 1939 film adaptation. The story takes place in the Land of Oz, both before and after Dorothy Gale arrives from Kansas. It focuses on the complicated friendship between Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland—who become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Their bond is tested by their opposing worldviews, a shared romantic interest, and their different responses to the Wizard’s corrupt rule, eventually leading to Elphaba’s tragic downfall.

The musical was produced by Universal Stage Productions, with producers Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone. Joe Mantello directed, and Wayne Cilento handled choreography. The original Broadway production opened at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, following preview tryouts at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre in May and June of that year. The original cast featured Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. Although reviews were mixed, the production won three Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, and its original cast album earned a Grammy Award.

Long-running productions include a West End staging at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, which has surpassed 7,407 performances, and multiple North American tours that began in 2005. The musical has set several weekly box-office records worldwide. In January 2011, the Broadway, London, and North American touring productions all broke their own records for highest weekly gross simultaneously. During the final week of 2024, the Broadway production became the first to earn over $5 million in a single week. In 2016, *Wicked* surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining *The Phantom of the Opera* and *The Lion King* as the only shows to reach that milestone. By 2017, it had overtaken *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. Cynthia Erivo played Elphaba, Ariana Grande played Glinda, Jonathan Bailey played Fiyero, and Jeff Goldblum played the Wizard. The first part, which included extended cameos by Menzel and Chenoweth, was released on November 22, 2024, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, along with many other honors. The second part, titled *Wicked: For Good*, was released on November 21, 2025.

**Inception and development**

Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz came across Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel *Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West* while on vacation and recognized its potential for a dramatic adaptation. However, Maguire had already sold the rights to Universal Pictures, which planned to develop a live-action feature film. In 1998, Schwartz convinced Maguire to release the rights for a stage production, while also making what Schwartz called an “impassioned plea” to Universal producer Marc Platt to realize Schwartz’s own adaptation. Persuaded, Platt signed on as a joint producer alongside Universal and David Stone.

The novel is a political, social, and ethical commentary on the nature of good and evil, set in the Land of Oz in the years surrounding Dorothy’s arrival. It centers on Elphaba, a misunderstood, intelligent, and fiery girl with emerald-green skin who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda, the beautiful, blonde, popular girl who becomes Glinda the Good. The story adapts characters and situations from Baum’s *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz* and its 1939 film. The novel tackles serious adult themes, including sexual assault, political unrest, infidelity, racism, and the role of religion. It asks what it truly means to be “wicked” and whether good intentions that lead to bad outcomes are the same as bad intentions with bad outcomes. Schwartz thought carefully about how to condense the novel’s dense, complicated plot into a workable script. He worked with writer Winnie Holzman for a year to develop the plot outline, meeting with producer Marc Platt to refine the show’s structure, creating an original stage piece rather than a strict adaptation of Maguire’s work.

While the draft kept Maguire’s idea of retelling the 1939 film’s story from the villain’s perspective, the stage adaptation’s storyline “goes far afield” from the novel. Holzman told *Playbill*: “It was [Maguire’s] brilliant idea to take this hated figure and tell things from her point of view, and to have the two witches be roommates in college, but the way in which their friendship develops—and really the whole plot—is different onstage.” Schwartz explained the changes: “Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda—who becomes Glinda—and Elphaba... the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies.” Other major plot modifications include Fiyero appearing as the Scarecrow, Elphaba surviving at the end, Nessarose using a wheelchair instead of being born without arms, Boq having a continuing love interest for Glinda and eventually becoming the Tin Woodman instead of Nick Chopper, cutting Elphaba’s years in the Vinkus, deleting Liir’s birth, Fiyero not having a wife and children, Doctor Dillamond being fired instead of murdered, and Madame Morrible going to prison instead of dying.

The book, lyrics, and score were developed through a series of readings. During these developmental workshops, Kristin Chenoweth—the actress Schwartz had in mind while writing the character—joined the project as Glinda.