Toronto Star for the Wicked Tour: "The book by Winnie Holzman (based on Gregory Maguire's smashing novel) is a truly clever piece of work. It offers us the backstory to the witches of Oz — good and wicked — as well as filling us in on where the ruby slippers came from, how the Tin Man and Scarecrow wound up like they did, etc. But it's also a serious exploration of the nature of friendship, as well a cautionary fable about the danger of governments who rule by fear. All of this is also captured by Stephen Schwartz's tuneful score, which knows when to soar with inspiring pop anthems or when to make you smile with its musical and lyrical cleverness."--Richard Ouzounian

Wicked in San Diego Review July 27, 2006 by Welton Jones. "...Here, Elphaba is the sensitive one who sympathizes with the animals and resists wizardly mind-control. Her inevitable spiral downward toward her watery fate at the hands of an unseen Dorothy is done with far more style in the novel but more elbow-digging realism on stage. The play becomes a duo for Elphaba and Glenda, the nice witch played by the creamy-white Billie Burke. In the novel, they meet as school chums, along with a brace of other fetching youngsters...."

Chicago Sun Times: ..."Wicked" has worked its magic the old-fashioned way: not with reviews or awards or heavy marketing, but by connecting with audiences through its accessible music, story and characters (who are, admittedly, associated with the best-loved movie musical of all time). Adapted for the stage by composer Stephen Schwartz ("Godspell," "Pippin") and writer Winnie Holzman ("My So-Called Life") from a novel by Gregory Maguire, the show's themes -- the rewards and trials of friendship, outsiderness vs. popularity, courage in the face of an oppressive system -- have struck a deep chord in theatergoers.... [comments from KEVIN NANCE, Sun Times reporter]