Did Avenue Q beat out Wicked for best musical in 2003?
Avenue Q beat Wicked, but it was in 2004, not 2003. It was a really big deal because Wicked was assumed to be the winner. A lot of voters were extremely upset with Avenue Q’s producers because many of them likely voted for the show in order to give it strong legs to tour nationally. Wicked already had $20 million in advance sales, and Avenue Q would need all the help they could get. Unknown to voters, though, Avenue Q had already lined up an exclusive deal at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, and would not be allowed to tour until the contract expired. This ticked off a lot of people. To be fair, though, Avenue Q did win for best book and best score, so it wasn’t as big of an upset as some people believe. Avenue Q is a great show. It’s just that Wicked was/still is such a money-making juggernaut that the Tony seemed a given.
