“We’re Not in Kansas Anymore…” Winnie Holzman’s Life@GWN

“We’re Not in Kansas Anymore…” Winnie Holzman’s Life@GWN

To Winnie Holzman, co-writer of WICKED, writing is all about what happens off the page. While WICKED is full of magic, mystery, and other-worldly imaginations, writing, to her, is best used as a tool to connect more deeply, live more bravely, and love more compassionately within the everyday.

Along with her co-writer, Stephen Schwartz, Winnie reimagined Gregory Maguire’s fantasy novel adaptation of the classic tale of The Wizard of Oz in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, to express the nuances of self-actualization, enchantment, and triumph over fear that textured her life. Through her process of penning WICKED—a rare combination of collaboration, commitment, and childlike wonder—Wicked came to be, and remains, a fixture in our cultural imagination for its honest, hopeful, and sensitive depiction of what connects us all—our differences.

In the afterglow of the 2025 Girls Write Now Awards, Honoree Winnie Holzman talks with Girls Write Now about how to tell a story larger than life, while staying true to it.

Winnie, would you like to introduce yourself?

My name is Winnie Holzman, and I’m a writer, a screenwriter, and a playwright. Wife and mother, friend and guest of Girls Write Now’s Speaking in First Draft!

What was it like writing the story from your perspective, with all of the source material? Did you find it hard to separate your original ideas from the sources?

I don’t think of it as separating anything because we’re part of a legacy. When Stephen Schwartz and I began writing the musical, we were aware that we’re part of a long line that began with the brilliant American writer and storyteller Frank Baum, who wrote the children’s book The Wizard of Oz, along with many, many other Oz books. That became a very famous book indeed, giving birth to many other projects, including the famous 1939 movie, starring Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow. I don’t know how many people in your generation are familiar with that beautiful American movie, but for Stephen Schwartz and I, when we were growing up as little ones, that movie was indelible for us. It was one of the most important movies we ever saw as young people. The movie, along with the brilliant novel that Gregory Maguire wrote, requires applying creativity to something that already exists, making it your own, and finding ways to say something new—having the benefit of, and being inspired by, all that came before. In many ways we all do this as artists and as writers.

We’re all inspired by what we read as little ones, by what we read as teens. We’re all inspired by what’s going on in the culture.

We’re all taking from each other all the time. It feels like a natural thing for us to adapt this novel that itself had been inspired by so much that came before it We’re just in a long line, expressing our own selves through these incredibly famous characters and bringing our own ambitions, our own interests, our own emotions, to these archetypical characters.

As you say, The Wizard of Oz was an important movie for you and Stephen Schwartz growing up. What made it so special for you?

When The Wizard of Oz would air back when Stephen Schwartz and I were growing up, it was a big event. We only had five channels to watch on television. You couldn’t just demand a movie. You had to wait to see if you could find a movie on TV that you wanted to watch. So it became an exciting event. And The Wizard of Oz is a beautiful movie filled with depth, incredible music and lyrics, as well as meaning and great emotion. It has everything—It’s scary, funny, lighthearted. It gets dark, it gets serious. It had a great impact on us.

When we were writing WICKED, we made a vow that we were never going to cheapen or make fun of the movie. We were going to have some fun with it, which is different than mocking, or belittling. Most importantly, we were never going to deny the reality of the movie, so our script and story fit in with the movie. While you see some things happen in one place, you don’t realize what is happening somewhere else, what else affected these events. That was the promise we made to each other.

Winnie Holzman at the Girls Write Now 2025 Awards. Image courtesy of Getty Images

After the show premiered, you and Stephen spent some time making adjustments. Could you talk about that experience?

When we were getting ready to open on Broadway, as you can imagine, there’s a lot of pressure, and there’s a lot of intensity. We did the best we could, and we’re really proud of where we brought the show. But what happens is the show opens. It’s never like you sit back and you go, “Well, it’s perfect. Now I feel 100% wonderful, positive, and glowing about everything I wrote.” It’s more like you run out of time, the show opens, and you have to step away.

So, WICKED became a big hit on Broadway, and we realized it was going to be done in London about two years later. We were in rehearsals in London, and Idina Menzel was starring. Joe Mantello, our wonderful director, was going over to create the London production. Stephen and I were both going to be there, so we were all together.

Stephen has a great work ethic. I learned a lot working with him. I tend to reach a point sometimes where I want to lie down and go, “I think I’m done. I think I want to watch TV! Stephen’s work ethic has really influenced me after more than 20, 25 years or more of working and collaborating with him. We have our little language that we use together. Stephen and I have a very fruitful collaboration. We talk things out, and I might present an idea that ends up becoming his; or he might say something that I respond to with, “oh, I want to use that.” And whatever it was, we felt better about those moments.

Often it’s about just finding a more compelling way to express what you’re trying to say. It’s not like we changed things drastically. It was more like finding the nuance that would bring it to that other level emotionally.

Whether a play on stage, a movie, or a television show, I want to make people feel like they really went through something, like they were brought to another place.

I wanted to remind the audience that we weren’t in, say, New Jersey, or Pittsburgh— we were in a magical land that has its own odd rules and ways. Even though it’s in a language that we all spoke, there were just little moments when I wanted to surprise people, almost show them the easiness.

Part of my job as a writer is to invite my audience to travel with me through a story. It’s my way of saying, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Winnie Holzman speaking at the Girls Write Now 2025 Awards. Getty Image subject to copyright

In the second part of our candid conversation with Winnie, she opens up about how she copes with fear and defines success—through authenticity, laughter, honest critique, and the power of persistence.

Stay Tuned.