Writer of Pop Culture

2003: A ‘Wicked’ Show Opens on Broadway

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (which in turn is based on Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) the Broadway musical Wicked opened at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway on this day in 2003. Unlike the traditional tale of Dorothy in the land of Oz, this show’s tale is told from the point of view of the Galinda the good witch and Elphaba, the wicked witch.

Composed by Stephen Schwartz, the show starred Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth and Joel Grey (who played the Wizard). The production won three Tony’s and seven Drama Desk Awards. It is one of the longest running shows on Broadway.

In 2024, Universal Pictures is released the first half of a movie version of the musical to theaters. The second half, Wicked for Good, opens in November 2025. It stars Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Galinda) and Jeff Goldblum (the Wizard). (Image: Wikimedia)

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In “Turkeys Away”, Herb Tarlek, the radio station’s promotional manager convinced Arthur Carlson, the station manager to do a large turkey giveaway. However, the details of the stunt were kept under wraps until the big day.

A large crowd attended the event in hopes of getting a free frozen turkey for the holiday. Then the stunt was revealed much to their horror. Live turkeys were thrown out of a helicopter (off screen of course) which came crashing to the ground creating mass panic.

“Oh, the humanity”, uttered news reporter Les Nessman. At the end of the episode, Carlson stated, “As God as my witness, I really thought that turkeys could fly.”

But here’s the kicker – according to Hugh Wilson, the series creator, the story was inspired by a real, similar radio station event years earlier.

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1938: ‘The War of the Worlds’ Causes Widespread Panic

One the world’s most effective radio stunts were performed on this day in 1938 when The Mercury Theatre on the Air performed H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds as a special Halloween episode. The special was directed and narrated by Orson Welles in a way that made the story come alive. So alive in fact that it caused panic among those listening in thinking that Martians had really come to earth with evil intent.

A good portion of the program was presented as a series of new bulletins that stated an explosion took place on Mars while a strange object fell from the sky and landed on a farm in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Adding to the illusion was the fact that the special did not take time out for commercials during the broadcast.

Although some research has shown that the panic wasn’t as widespread as previously reported, it still marks an amazing, if not misguided, feat in radio.

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