A successful musical is like a delicious batch of brownies; it takes the right ingredients. Besides being highly “brandable” with a remarkable score, Wicked dealt with issues and lessons that were relevant with the current times and culture.
With its Broadway debut in 2003, the nation was undergoing several changes. We were all still recovering and trying to understand 9/11, catching up to the digital age, and undergoing a new renaissance of tolerance with peoples race, religion, and sexual preference. Young women, raised on a diet of empowerment were hungry for strong and dynamic female role models in popular culture.
Wicked was an instant hit, and 13 years later it is one of the most successful shows to ever hit Broadway, recently hitting $1 Billion in total box office revenue. The ingredients that made this delicious long lasting hit are the lessons and reminders continuously echoed in the Gershwin Theatre 8 times a week.