The musical Wicked has been wowing audiences with what some call the best musical of the decade. The story is about what happened before Dorothy dropped into Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz. Wicked is about two girls who meet in the land of Oz.

The New York Times called Wicked “Broadway’s biggest blockbuster.”

The musical has won 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards.

NBC 4‘s Monica Day sat down with two of the stars from the show to find out why everyone loves the musical.

“Anytime you have a story with these familiar characters that a lot of people are very familiar with but with different aspect of that story is very appealing,” said Justin Brill who stars as the character Boq.

“To use a very good quote, ‘It’s a cultural phenomenon.’ It has such a wide spread appeal that everyone that sees it loves it,” said Brynn O’Malley who stars as the character Nessarose.

The show runs until Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Ohio Theater. Buy now and save $20 on your next order over $250.

Wicked musical coming to Ohio Theatre on July 28 and perform through August 29, 2010.

Even with millions in backing from Universal Pictures, the original Broadway opening of “Wicked” suffered from mediocre reviews. It was considered a “‘Wicked’ waste of talent” by the New York Daily News and a “lavish, ambitious and problematic” show by the Associated Press. The New York Times was even harsher, saying “‘Wicked’ does not, alas, speak hopefully for the future of the Broadway musical.”

Some say the middling reviews were the reason “Wicked” was beaten out by underdog “Avenue Q” for Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards.

However, the Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman collaboration did take home three other wins out of 10 nominations.

But even if the critics didn’t like the show at first, audiences had a much different take. Eight years later, the musical still sells out theaters across the country.

The traveling production returns to Columbus on July 28 for one-month stay at the Ohio Theatre.

Based on the Gregory Maguire’s 1995 bestselling novel of the same name, “Wicked” tells the back story of the witches from the “Wizard of Oz” — Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the East. Wicked is one of Broadway’s highest grossing musicals to date.

Buy Wicked Columbus OH Tickets. Buy now and save $20 on your next order over $250.