The story of Wicked the musical all started with Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." Maguire has achieved fame with his now-classic series of books that take fairy tales and beloved stories and tell them from new angles. His "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" and "Mirror Mirror" are fresh looks at Cinderella and Snow White, respectively, and his "Son of a Witch" and "A Lion Among Men" complement his wildly popular stories behind the classic Wizard of Oz story.

The musical pulls a great deal of material from the book, but it focuses the story much more on the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda. The story of this mismatched pair of witches growing and taking wildly diverging paths in life is the true heart of the musical, and its profound messages truly resonate with audiences. It's no wonder there's so much talk about a Wicked movie...