CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — In 2005, Vice President of Broadway in Chicago Eileen LaCario bet on a little show called “Wicked,” which had just opened in New York.
“When I saw ‘Wicked,’ I really believed it had the ability to be a long run, but no one thought of Chicago as a long run town,” she recalled.
LaCario said you never know what show will stick, but she took a risk.
“Tourism was starting to build up in Chicago,” LaCario said. “‘Wicked’ opened. It was a brilliant show. We talked to the producers, and the tickets went on sale very early, and the numbers were extraordinary, so they said, ‘let's try it.’”
For its first anniversary in 2006, Broadway in Chicago held a program called "365 witches".
“We invited people out to dress as Elphaba and come to the Water Tower. The 365 who do it, they'd get two tickets. Throughout the whole city, you saw Elphabas,” she laughed. “It's just one of those shows people love.”
“Wicked” ended up playing at the then-Oriental Theater for three-and-a-half years, and it remains the longest running musical in Chicago history.
“I was just hoping for a year, but I knew I needed to pace myself,” she said.
“Wicked” paved the way for long-run shows like “Jersey Boys” and “Hamilton,” and now Chicago has become a hub for pre-Broadway shows and premieres.
“You never have no idea what's going to be the big hit, the long run,” LaCario said. “It was marvelous. It became a tourism draw for Chicago. People go to see ‘Wicked’ and it's their entry to the theater world. Their fans are a loyal base.”
Now the beloved musical is back in Chicago for the fourth time.
“If you ask an avid theater goer, ‘What was the first show you saw,’ at this point many of them say ‘Wicked,’” LaCario said. “Back in the day, it was ‘Fiddler,’ or ‘Cats,’ or ‘Phantom.’ It brought a whole new generation into loving the theater.”
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LaCario said this run will bring Wicked's score and his story to a whole new generation.
“All the people who saw it, they now have children, and grandchildren, a niece and nephew and they want them to experience the piece that [they] loved,” LaCario said.
It's almost been one year since the theater district officially reopened after the pandemic shutdown.
“A year ago, Oct. 1st, we came back from nothing,” LaCario said. “So many of our operations people were let go. Pulling back that whole team was just incredible, however, we had to shut down a few times after that because of COVID, so we weren't in the clear by any means. It was a rollercoaster of a year but we persevered.”
LaCario said it's been non stop since then.
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“We're coming back very, very strong. We presented 28 shows, two pre-Broadways, we did 'Six' [and] 'Frozen' just last year. We went from vaccines and masks required, to masks required and now we are in masks recommended.”
Upon closing during its first run, “Wicked” played 1,500 performances and grossed over $200 million at the box office.
By January 2009, more than 3 million people had seen the Chicago-based show. The production has been back in touring productions since but this will be the first return visit since the 2017–2018 holiday season.
“Having ‘Wicked’ back is like home,” she smiled.
“Wicked” returns to the Nederlander Theater Sept. 28 through Dec. 4.
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