'Wicked's wonderfully wild history: 8 fun facts

The wonderfully wild history of 'Wicked'!

Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians; In the Heights), the first Wicked movie is finally here, starring a magical cast comprised of Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Glinda), Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Ethan Slater (Boq), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Jeff Goldblum (the Wizard), Bowen Yang (Pfannee), and Bronwyn James (ShenShen).

From Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, to the 2003 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, to this two-part cinematic event directed by Jon M. Chu, the wait is finally over! A legion of fans from around the world are about to re-enter the Land of Oz, while some might be experiencing the Wicked saga for the very first time.

Whether you grew up with MGM's 1939 musical film The Wizard of Oz, read Maguire's The Wicked Years series of books, got to see the Wicked musical on Broadway, or are going into this new movie with a completely fresh pair of eyes, it's been a long wait and various iterations for this final version of the Wicked movie to reach the theaters.

Keep scrolling to learn more about the history of Wicked, which is now playing in theaters.

8. 'Wicked' was originally planned as a film — NOT as a musical.

Music composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz had just been on a trip to Hawaii when Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked was recommended for him to read. As reported by SFGATE in 2003, Schwartz immediately saw the potential for turning the book into a Broadway musical, only to find out that Universal Pictures and Hollywood producer Marc Platt had already acquired the rights to turn the book into a live-action movie.

After many years of persuasion, Schwartz finally convinced Platt and Universal in 1998 to focus on creating a Broadway musical instead of a film. At the time though, the idea that a stage musical could be a smash hit generating billions of dollars felt like a huge stretch. Producers knew how to profit from film and TV, but Broadway didn't necessarily stand out as a "cash cow."

Another factor that's often forgotten in the making of Wicked is that Platt wasn't yet this entertainment business juggernaut that we've known him to be. He had many success stories in film and television, but Wicked was arguably Platt's first big success story on Broadway.

7. Author Gregory Maguire was reluctant about the 'Wicked' musical when he saw it for the first time.

"I went in, and I sat down in row H," Maguire explained during an interview. "And [I] thought, suddenly, 'Oh my lord, I didn't bring a paper bag to put over my head in case this is terrible!' Furthermore, I'm not even on the aisle! I might be stoned. I might be torn apart, limb by limb, if this is really terrible."

He added, "The curtain opened, and the flying monkeys came down, and Galinda came out in her bubble and made everybody laugh… and I still thought, 'Oooh, is this gonna be… a little bit… creepy? Is this going to be a little bit Saturday Night Live? Which was not what my book was about."

Maguire only started to feel confident around the 12-minute mark of the musical — after the opening number, "No One Mourns the Wicked," concluded. As the story flashed back to the beginning and Elphaba (played by Idina Menzel) appeared, Maguire described how loud and excited the audience became, noting that his strong reaction seemed to be directed at the character herself, not necessarily at Menzel due to her impressive musical theater credits. "It was clear to me, and really clear to the producers of the play, too, that as admirable as Idina Menzel would come to be, the audience was not clapping for the actress… they were saying hello to the Witch. They were delighted to see her again."

6. Sutton Foster played Pfannee in a workshop for the 'Wicked' musical.

The changes from Maguire's Wicked novel to Broadway's Wicked production have been extensively reported over the years. Well, except for one wonderfully wild tweak that, somehow, rarely gets unacknowledged: the character of Pfannee — who existed in Maguire's books, did not exist in the stage musical, and was brought to life by Bowen Yang in the Wicked movies — was actually included in the earliest versions of the Wicked musical.

After Yang brought up in the Las Culturistas podcast that Sutton Foster played Pfannee in a workshop for Wicked on Broadway, a cast list was re-shared in the Wicked subreddit confirming that Pfannee did, indeed, exist at one point. But wait, there's more! Not only did Pfannee exist in that early version of the show, but Foster was also billed as playing Dorothy.

Can you imagine Bowen Yang playing the diva herself, Dorothy, in Wicked: Part Two? We'd be into it.

5. At first, Broadway critics wrote savagely negative reviews of 'Wicked.'

A recent piece from The Hollywood Reporter stitched together a series of high-profile reviews that were published when the Wicked musical first opened on Broadway. Spoiler alert: They weren't great!

Ben Brantley, for instance, wrote in The New York Times that the only good thing about Wicked was Kristin Chenoweth's performance as Glinda:

"The talented Ms. Menzel will no doubt dazzle audience members whose musical tastes run to soft-rock stations. But for aficionados of the American musical, it's Ms. Chenoweth who's the real thing, melding decades of performing traditions into something shiny and new. Wicked does not, alas, speak hopefully for the future of the Broadway musical."

John Simon's pointed review in New York Magazine read, "Two of the producers of the musical Wicked bear the name Platt, which (in German) means flat, and one the name Stone, which (in English) means heavy. Why not also one called Long, although it is too much to ask for one called Boring, all of which apply to the show."

4. The concept of 'no-fly' shows.

The Wicked musical actually had to deal with a concept that, for some audiences, felt odd and novel: "no-fly shows."

For context, the mechanism that would raise Elphaba high to the sky during the "Defying Gravity" musical number would sometimes break down. Until that equipment was fixed, then, there would be no way for Elphaba to "fly" into the sky during the show.

As a result, the Wicked production crew and box office attendees started to warn the audience that they were about to watch a no-fly show — to the disappointment of many fans, but through no fault of the cast and crew, either!

3. 'Wicked's shocking reception at the Tony Awards.

Leading with a total of 10 nominations, Wicked was the most obvious frontrunner to snatch several trophies at the 58th Tony Awards. Shockingly though, the musical only won in three categories: Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Costume Design.

2. Best Musical did not go to 'Wicked.'

One of the biggest shocks related to Wicked at the Tony Awards is that the musical lost the Tony Award for Best Musical — the most prestigious award that a new Broadway production can win. With very rare exceptions, this award often goes to the most buzz-worthy musical of that particular year, like Rent winning in 1996, In the Heights winning in 2008, Hamilton winning in 2016, A Strange Loop winning in 2022.

However, the award for Best Musical went to Avenue Q at the 58th Tony Awards… not Wicked!

1. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth had to compete in the same Tonys category.

Speaking of the Tonys!

Both Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth were only eligible to get nominated in the same category — Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical — following a decision made by the Tony Awards Administration Committee in April 2004 (via Playbill).

While one can understand the argument that they were both "leads" in the musical, it was quite awkward for the costars to compete against each other. In turn, the show didn't have any actress in the Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical category... which Chenoweth could've possibly won had she been nominated for that instead.

For the Wicked movie, a story from The Hollywood Reporter explains that Cynthia Erivo will be submitted for Best Actress, whereas Ariana Grande will be submitted for Best Supporting Actress.