Wicked facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wicked |
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| The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz | |
Official poster of the original Broadway production
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| Music | Stephen Schwartz |
| Lyrics | Stephen Schwartz |
| Book | Winnie Holzman |
| Basis | Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire |
| Productions | 2003 San Francisco (tryout) 2003 Broadway 2005 1st U.S. tour 2006 West End 2009 2nd U.S. tour 2013 1st UK/Ireland tour 2017 2nd UK/Ireland tour 2023 3rd UK/Ireland Tour Multiple international productions (see below) |
| Awards | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Musical Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical |
Wicked is a 2003 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is loosely based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, in turn based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation.
Contents
Plot
The show is told from the perspective of, and focuses on, the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy Gale arrives in Oz from Kansas. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (later Glinda the Good Witch), whose relationship struggles through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's fall from grace after becoming an animal activist.
Orginal production
Produced by Universal Stage Productions, in coalition with Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone, with direction by Joe Mantello and choreography by 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, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award. On October 28, 2019, with its 6,681st performance, it surpassed Les Misérables to become Broadway's fifth-longest running show. A typical performance of the show takes about two hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission.
Worldwide
The success of the Broadway production has spawned many productions worldwide, including a long-running West End production. Wicked has broken box-office records around the world, holding weekly-gross-takings records in Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, and London. In the week ending January 2, 2011, the London, Broadway, and both North American touring productions simultaneously broke their respective records for the highest weekly gross. In the final week of 2013, the Broadway production broke this record again, earning $3.2 million. In 2016, Wicked surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King as the only Broadway shows to do so. In 2017, Wicked surpassed The Phantom of the Opera as Broadway's second-highest grossing musical, trailing only The Lion King. Wicked had performed in 16 different countries and is still going strong.
Film adaptation
A two-part film adaptation, directed by Jon M. Chu starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero is currently in the works. The first part is set for release on Christmas Day in 2024, with the second part to follow a year later.
Musical numbers
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Note: "The Wicked Witch of the East" is the only major piece to not be featured on the cast recording, as the producers felt "the song included too much dialogue and would give some of the plot away to people who have not seen the show."
15th anniversary tribute special
In October 2018, an NBC broadcast, A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway, was hosted by Menzel and Chenoweth and featured Ariana Grande, Pentatonix, Adam Lambert, Ledisi, the current Broadway company of the musical and others, singing many of the musical numbers from Wicked to a live studio audience at the Marquis Theatre in New York. The concert special was directed by Glenn Weiss.
PBS Special
On August 29, 2021, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network aired a Wicked concert special, which was also hosted by Chenoweth and Menzel and featured Rita Moreno, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana DeBose, Gavin Creel, Ali Stroker, Amber Riley, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Nettles, Stephanie Hsu, Alex Newell, Isaac Cole Powell and Gabrielle Ruiz performing many of the musical numbers.
Images for kids
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Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz
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The Curran Theatre in San Francisco, where Wicked made its debut
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The original Broadway production has been at the Gershwin Theatre since its opening in 2003.
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A sit-down production of Wicked ran at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California for more than a year.
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Since its opening, the London production has played at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
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Touring cast members in the curtain call at a show in Omaha, Nebraska
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Playing at the Oriental Theatre for more than three years, the Chicago production continually broke box-office records.
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The Los Angeles production played at the Pantages Theatre for almost two years, grossing more than $145 million.
See also
In Spanish: Wicked para niños
