Chapter 14 CASE ASSIGNMENT: Wicked

Wicked Awesome! Musical Enchants Record Crowds When the curtains first lifted on the Broadway musical Wicked, it appeared that audiences had been scared away from the box office. The Gershwin Theatre was rarely full and a production that had cost over $14 million to make posted advance ticket sales of only $9 million. Crippled by cost overruns, cast changes, song rewriting, and a 2003 start date that was much later than projected, excitement and enthusiasm waned for what was once a much-anticipated show. Based on Gregory Maguire’s best-selling 1995 novel of the same name, the story is a prequel to Frank Baum’s 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. The musical examines the lives of two teenage witches, Glinda and Elephaba, and wonders which one is truly evil. Glinda, a beautiful, ambitious, and popular blond, grows up to become the Good Witch; Elephaba, a green-skinned, intelligent, free-spirited rebel, develops into the nefarious Wicked Witch of the West. Elaborate sets, lighting, and costumes and a score by Academy Award-winning songwriter Stephen Schwartz did not impress the New York Times, however. Its scathing review claimed, “There’s trouble in Emerald City . . . [it’s] a sermon of a musical.” Unfazed, Wicked producer Marc Platt, a former Universal Pictures executive, never lost faith in his production. He remained convinced that if he could just get people in the door, they would leave completely captivated by what he considered a truly exceptional experience. So, he cut ticket prices by 30 percent and watched as patrons began to make repeat ticket purchases during intermission. After the shows, swarms of enthralled teenage girls began to gather outside the stage door in hopes of meeting the cast. As the target market emerged before his eyes, Platt leveraged his Hollywood experience to turn Wicked into a musical marketing machine. The hot ticket sales during show intermissions indicated that the show’s success would hinge on word-of-mouth referrals from the show’s core audience – teenage girls. To get more of them talking, Platt and the marketing team published feature articles on the show’s Web site and seeded Internet chat rooms with Wicked related topics. An all-out promotions blitz ensued. Wicked lined up character endorsement deals with makeup manufacturer, Stila, and sent hot new stars Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel to Sephora stores to give makeovers to teen fans with Glinda facial glitter and Elephaba lipstick. In an interesting twist on American Idol, Wicked karaoke contests at malls served as fake auditions that awarded real tickets to the most passionate fans. Radio promos in New York and Chicago were supported by advertising at Macy’s and in Elle Girl magazine for a Halloween campaign that lasted a month. As the show became profitable, two U.S. tours were launched. The shows routinely sell out, and yearly revenues are now close to $200 million. Tickets to the shows on Broadway now command a record-tying $110, and the show’s take is about $1.3 million a week in New York alone. Mike Isaacson, vice president of the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, sold an amazing $1.5 million of tickets a mere 48 hours after they went on sale. “This show is a rocket because it’s attracting people from teenagers to grandparents,” he mused. Day-of-show raffles for tickets at sold-out venues give a few lucky patrons a chance to buy $25 tickets. Those raffles generally appeal to younger theatergoers, but those witch-wannabes bring mom and dad out for the night of mischief too. And their dollars help fund purchases of merchandise at the traveling OzDust Boutiques. Items like Wicked-branded golf balls, T-shirts, necklaces, and CDs of the show’s musical numbers sell at the stands and at http://www.wickedthemusical.com. Sales generate weekly merchandise receipts of more than $300,000. But that doesn’t surprise Marc Platt. Reflecting on the show’s universal premise, he quips “There’s a little green girl inside all of us.” Sources: Brooks Barnes, “How ‘Wicked’ Cast Its Spell,” Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2005, A1, A4; http://www.wickedthemusical.com; http://broadwayworld.com.