When one is tasked with covering Broadway and its influence across the United States, one immediately takes note of how every local newspaper heaps praise upon Wicked the Musical once either of the two touring productions comes to town. One also becomes jaded when tracking the incredibly ticket sales numbers for the open-run Broadway production. However, it is refreshing to be reminded that the city that never sleeps remains desperately in love with Wicked tickets eight years after the musical opened at Gershwin Theatre.
How am I deciphering this? Am I basing this on anecdotal evidence and a hazy recollection of a night out in Manhattan? No, HopStop.com, the public transit guide that has become increasingly popular in New York City analyzed its direction requests for those looking for particular theaters on Broadway and found that Wicked topped the list, even proving more popular than the new hit musical The Book of Mormon.
The study is far from perfect. HopStop is a service available nationwide (and in the UK), so there could be a few Internet savvy tourists corrupting the data and many New Yorkers may not need to use the service to find the theaters. However, at the same time, the fact that Wicked remains so high on the list despite running for eight years despite is something just as telling.
You would think every self-respecting New Yorker and Broadway aficionado would know where these theaters are by heart. Well, the Village Voice suggested that 13-year-old girls, the biggest consumer market in the country, could be responsible for this. Wicked is a coming of age story celebrating girl power and 13-year-old girls are going to be tech savvy enough to utilize the service while perhaps lacking an extensive knowledge of the city.
Of course, just as interesting is the graphic at the bottom of the blog entry with a breakdown by borough. Wicked the Musical is number one for Manhattan and Staten Island, number three for Queens, and void from the top three for the Bronx and Brooklyn (both topped by Sister Act).
