One of the most successful musicals in Chicago history is coming to an end. Wicked will drop its final curtain in January after a more than three-year run.
The show is about how the witches of the Wizard of Oz came to be. It’s been a bona-fide hit in Chicago, breaking sales records and running longer than any other musical in recent history. When it opened in 2005, Chicago’s theater scene never expected a show could be this successful. Producer David Stone says the biggest surprise was that people started traveling to the city to see Wicked.STONE: So the idea that it was a tourist magnet was something that was new to Chicago.
RHEE: And unexpected by you, I take it.
STONE: Unexpected by all of us.
Stone says demand for tickets remains strong, but he wanted the show to go out with class.