Wicked (musical)

Wicked
The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz
Official poster of the original Broadway production
Music	Stephen Schwartz
Lyrics	Stephen Schwartz
Book	Gregory Maguire
Basis	Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Premiere	May 28, 2003: Curran Theatre, San Francisco
Productions	2003 San Francisco 2003 Broadway 2005 First US Tour 2006 West End 2009 Second US Tour 2013 First UK and Ireland Tour 2018 Second UK and Ireland Tour Various international productions (see below)
Awards	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Musical

Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz from Kansas, and it includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (whose name later changes to Glinda the Good Witch), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace.

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 April 2003. 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 six Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award.