Wicked earns $1 billion at Broadway box office faster than any other show

Wicked has defied the odds, earning over $1 billion at the Broadway box office in 12 and a half years on the Great White Way, making it the fastest show to do so in Broadway history.

The musical, which tells the story of how things came to be in the Land of Oz, joins The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera in the $1 billion club.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel by the same name, Wicked opened in October 2003 and ranks as the 10th longest-running show on Broadway. Since then, the story of Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship has been told in over 100 cities across 14 countries and translated into six languages, grossing over $4 billion worldwide. Wicked also picked up three Tony Awards and a Grammy along the way.

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The original production starred Idina Menzel as Elphaba the Wicked Witch and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda the Good Witch, with musical theater legend Joel Grey as the Wizard. The musical currently stars Rachel Tucker and Carrie St. Louis as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, and continues to play at the Gershwin Theatre, where it made its debut.

A big screen adaptation had been planned for 2016, but the film’s creative team won’t rush Wicked to movie theaters. “We’re enthusiastically moving it forward,” producer Mark Platt told Variety last year. “But we don’t want to get ahead of what is still a robust theatrical experience.”