Wicked's Dropping Grosses

You might think that this show in particular can at least try to ride it out through this treacherous time. WICKED is in a place financially that most other shows envy, it has run a LONG time in NY and they probably have a deep reserve of cash to keep the Gershwin doors open. But yes, the movie was overexposed and there's a course correction going on right now via the stage version.

A lot of us are broke and have cut back on discretionary spending with a bust economy at the moment. Hopefully tourism of all kinds can start a gradual rebound in a few years or so and the US can break out of its alienated turtle shell.

EDSOSLO858 said: "But yes, the movie was over exposed and there's a course correction going on right now via the stage version."

Especially given how the second film in particular pretty much amplified the stage show's second act problems.

I think stunt casting would send a very terrible message that the show needs to rely on names to sell tickets rather than the show itself. They should just ride it out, it’s also bizarre that they are allergic to putting the show up on tkts. Maybe they’ll have to do discounts to sell the show for the next couple years, and then do a big 25th anniversary marketing push to get people excited again.

No need to stunt cast. The Elphaba or Glinda roles tend to be a great stepping stone for an actor's career on Broadway or entertainment in general.

I recall friends wanted to watch Wicked last year since they wanted to know the ending (since they had only seen part 1 of the movie at the time.)

At the moment most tourists in NYC right now are here for the World Cup, not to watch Broadway.

ClumsyDude15 said: ""

UGH! I want Bianca as Madame Morrible so bad.

But there has been some stunt casting since the early days of the show: Taye Diggs & Joey Macintyre as Fiyero, Rue McClanahan as Morrible, Ben Vereen as The Wizard.

All of these you mentioned WERE within the first 4-5 years of the show’s arrival - THE “early days of the show.” These weren’t stunt cast replacements 15 years into the show’s run. 😂😂😂

The show has been aggressively dynamically pricing both up *and* down -- last Sunday matinee, beyond a handful of $239 premium seats, the rest of the house ranged from $88, $115 and $125 before fees. Granted, last weekend was the perfect storm of 4th of July + World Cup.

But that seems to be their approach to which I agree with an earlier poster on: Why not send standard price tickets to TKTS? They'd likely clean up even at a nominal discount. I'm baffled on the remaining mindset that "my show will never be at the booth."

Also if you lower the prices and don't market / promote it or tell anyone, what result are you expecting?

I had heard a second-hand rumor months ago that Stone & Platt were exploring a closure, then bring it back tour-sized in 3-5 years. But I didn’t believe that then and I still don’t believe it now. Long runners like this go up and down, and this summer is weird. They just need to weather the storm of Wicked fatigue. Even if it costs $1.2 mil per week to run, they’ve been profitable all but 3 weeks this year.

I’m still surprised they haven’t trimmed down the orchestra to the house minimum, but that would only be about 5 salaries (~ $12K total weekly savings) — and the political backlash could be worse.

They can absolutely look at casting bigger names for Morrible and the Wizard, but the reality is that those are going to be C-to-D-list people…older TV actors and maybe some Drag Race folk if they’re lucky. That’s not going to move the needle a lot.

Updated On: 7/9/26 at 04:32 PM

“Stunt casting" isn't putting the likes of Ana Gasteyer, Carol Kane, Rue McClanahan, Ben Vereen etc. They're perfectly capable proper actors who happen to be somewhat well known.

It's not casting untalented famous people because proper stage actors aren’t available either.

It's showing a complete disregard for talent or quality or suitability for the role, exploiting celebrity for dollars. It’s what Chicago does. I don’t believe Wicked have ever been guilty of it.

Jay Lerner-Z said: "“Stunt casting" isn't putting the likes of Ana Gasteyer, Carol Kane, Rue McClanahan, Ben Vereen etc. They're perfectly capable proper actors who happen to be somewhat well known.

It's not casting untalented famous people because proper stage actors aren’t available either.

It's showing a complete disregard for talent or quality or suitability for the role, exploiting celebrity for dollars. It’s what Chicago does. I don’t believe Wicked have ever been guilty of it."



Agree 100%. I think the stunt casting Chicago has done at times has been embarrassing (exp. Chrisitie Brinkley)

I’m a huge fan of the show and would be really interested in seeing it close. Given some of the non-replica productions we’ve seen I’d love to see what regional theatres would do to the show.


Famously, it’s in very bad shape in London. So above all I do think it’s worth closing there.

As I said in other threads, I'm very much in the camp of it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

That being said, I'm curious how close they are to releasing amateur rights now that the movie has come and gone. Phantom had amateur rights available for years before it closed while Les Mis was right before it closed IIRC.

While it might seem counter intuitive because "everyone will be doing Wicked" (and yes, we'll get a lot of bad HS versions) but perhaps it would renew interest in the OG version especially from people performing it around the country and world.

I doubt amateur rights getting releaeed happens very soon but feels like it could within the next five years?

Updated On: 7/10/26 at 08:36 AM