The phenomenon of the musical Wicked 

• Joan Marcus
• Austen Danielle Bohmer as Glinda and Lauren Samuels as Elphaba in WICKED

In 2024, the film version of the Broadway musical Wicked became a worldwide smash, earning more than $700 million at the box office. Added to the in-person theatrical ticket sales since its debut in 2003—Wicked currently ranks behind only The Lion King in all-time ticket sales for a Broadway production, topping $1.7 billion—that makes it one of the most successful musical-theater properties of all time. So as the show returns to Salt Lake City this month, it seems worth asking: Why?

Experts in musical theater have some pretty clear answers. Erin Farrell Speer—head of the Musical Theatre program in the University of Utah Drama Department—recalls being extremely excited upon hearing about the musical, as someone familiar with the Gregory Maguire novel that was the show's source material, and a fan of previous work by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz (Pippin). And she was an immediate fan of the show, and the way it was adapted from the book to be lighter and more family-friendly.

Speer attributes the show's broad popularity to its combination of stagecraft, storytelling and songwriting. "I would rank it in the category of a contemporary 'mega-musical, with that level of spectacle you expect from a Phantom of the Opera," she says. "But it has a better plot line, and a better book. I really love the relationship between Elphaba and Galinda, seeing the beauty of female friendship on stage, and the way they transform each other. ... [And] Schwartz is great at writing songs that are accessible to people who like listening to pop music. Other lyricists don't write with the same specificity to the character; the beauty of Schwartz's work is it's not just a joy to listen to."

Andrew Jackson Lynch—a New York-based composer, lyricist and MFA graduate from NYU's Musical Theatre program—echoes many of Speer's perspectives on what makes Wicked work. "Its themes are really straightforward ... and I think that's to its benefit," Lynch says. "It is a bubble-gum show; it's not meant to cause its audience to wrestle with anything difficult or challenge you. But the score is full of really fun songs that are smartly written. ... It is smart and sophisticated without you needing to see it being sophisticated."

However, Lynch additionally suggests that the show introduces its potentially difficult themes of fascism, scapegoating and exclusion in a way that's ideal for audiences to digest. "It's so entertaining, it treats [those ideas] in a way that doesn't force the audience to focus on them," he says. "In a way, it's more likely to reach people who aren't aware they're being reached by something."

Both Speer and Lynch also agree that Wicked works extremely well as a kind of "starter musical." Speer notes that for many of her students, "Wicked was their entry point, the title that drew them into the form." And Lynch adds, "It is the musical-theatre equivalent of a popcorn movie."

Still, a successful Broadway show is no guarantee of a successful movie version of that same show, and Speer and Lynch have varying perspectives on how Wicked beat the odds. Speer—who acknowledges that her perspective on the movie might be impacted by her being friends with its music supervisor—was a fan of the film, and believes it worked mostly by not getting in the way of its source. "I think that it's about who helms it, and the level of care and understanding about what makes the stage version so successful and beloved," she says. "I think the book and lyrics for Wicked stand on their own. It's a great story. And they didn't mess that up."

Lynch was not as fond of the film adaptation, yet still understands why it might have hit paydirt in a way that, for example, Steven Spielberg's recent film adaptation of West Side Story did not. "I'm not surprised that a movie based on Wicked was successful," he says. "People know and love the show. ... People actively love that show in a way that people don't actively love West Side Story."

When considering something having as much of a cultural moment as Wicked is having, it can be hard to see clearly whether it will have staying power, remaining as beloved 50 years from now, or becoming part of the musical theater canon in the way Fiddler on the Roof or My Fair Lady have. Lynch believes Wicked has the potential to endure, but could face challenges in terms of what will happen to it once it closes on Broadway and moves to regional and community theaters. "It's a hard show to sing," he notes. "To say nothing of the scale of the show. Performers will want to do Wicked, but my high school won't be able to do it."

Speer, however, is much more definitive about its long-term prospects. "I think it sits in the ranks of a Rent or a Hamilton as a quintessential moment in the form, but also one I don't think audiences will forget," she says. "I think we'll still be talking about this show for a long time."