 The Broadway production opened on October 30 , 2003 , to mixed reviews from theatre critics . Menzel and Chenoweth received nearly unanimous praise for their performances as Elphaba and Glinda . Both USA Today and Time Magazine gave the Broadway production of Wicked very positive reviews , with Richard Zoglin of Time saying , " If every musical had a brain , a heart and the courage of Wicked , Broadway really would be a magical place . " Elysa Gardner of USA Today described it as " the most complete , and completely satisfying , new musical I 've come across in a long time . " Conversely , Ben Brantley in the New York Times loved the production but panned the show itself , calling it a " sermon " that " so overplays its hand that it seriously dilutes its power , " with a " generic " score . He noted that Glinda is such a showy role that the audience ends up rooting for her rather than the " surprisingly colorless " Elphaba , who is " nominally " the hero . Despite these mixed reviews , interest in Wicked spread quickly by word @-@ of @-@ mouth , leading to record @-@ breaking success at the box office , as described below . Speaking to The Arizona Republic in 2006 , Schwartz commented , " What can I say ? Reviews are reviews .... I know we divided the critics . We didn 't divide the audience , and that 's what counts . " 
