Wicked Breaks House Records on Broadway and in Chicago

by BWW News Desk Jul. 6, 2005

For the week ending July 4, WICKED, the musical that tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, broke house records on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre (where it opened on October 30, 2003!), in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre (where it has just begun an open-ended run), and is fast approaching the house record in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre, where the musical's national tour is currently playing.

On Broadway, WICKED grossed $1,290,478 and filled the Gershwin Theatre to 100% capacity. In Chicago, the musical grossed $1,203,886 and filled the Oriental Theatre to 100% capacity. In Los Angeles, the Pantages was filled to 100% capacity and the gross was an astounding $1,696,000. That figure is just a few thousand short of the house record, which is expected to be surpassed before WICKED's national tour leaves Los Angeles on July 31.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. The Grammy Award-winning original cast recording of WICKED, produced by Stephen Schwartz for Decca Broadway, has been one of the fastest selling Broadway recordings of recent years.

Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.