This program originally aired online via zoom on Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 12:30pm Eastern.
Julie Salamon, New York Times best-selling author and journalist sits down with screenwriter Winnie Holzman to discuss her career and the process of adapting Wicked the Broadway musical and the Wicked films. Winnie attended New York University’s Graduate Musical Theatre writing program where she studied under notable creatives including Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden, and Stephen Sondheim. After critics gave a less than warm reception to her early musical, Birds of Paradise, Winnie embraced a mindset that has served her well over her incredible career; write for your own taste and values not for critics. She approaches her work with care and compassion asking, “what do I want to see?” and “what would touch me the most.” A process that was part of adapting Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked into a Broadway show, as well as the process of adapting the show into two films Wicked and Wicked: For Good. While adapting both projects, Winnie worked to stay true to the spirit of the original material while also playing to the strengths of whatever medium she was writing for.
Winnie’s work is heavily influenced by her social justice upbringing. While her parents did not participate in any organized religion, they were proudly Jewish and believed that fighting for civil rights, supporting unions, and opposing the war in Vietnam were all in line with Jewish values. While failure is a huge part of the experience of living a creative life, Winnie is a great believer in the perseverance of an artist as evidence of success.
Topics covered in this program:
- Winnie Holzman collaborated with composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz on Wicked the Broadway Musical and the Wicked films.
- Winnie Holzman collaborated with Dana Fox on the screenplays for the Wicked films.
- Winnie Holzman collaborated with her daughter Savannah Dooley on Huge, a tv series adapted from the YA novel by Sasha Paley.
- Winnie Holzman was part of the first class at Princeton to accept women when the school went co-ed.
