Wicked!

Hey Ho! Haven't blogged for a while. I've been very busy. I posted some pics on facebook of our Wicked experience, but didn't get to expound too much there. So, here goes it...

We bought our tickets to the show in early October. We kept it a secret from the girls for over six months (which was a very hard thing to do). Many times throughout the months, I thought we should just use the "Wicked" tickets as leverage for getting them to do their chores, clean their rooms, behaving, etc. But, we ended up keeping it from them the whole time. As we neared the event in April, we told them that Mom and Dad were planning a big surprise on Thursday. That was all they got. I had pre-arranged to take Brooklyn and Makenna out of school early on that day before lunch (as we had matinee tickets). We loaded them in the car and took off up to Salt Lake. We ate our brown-bagged egg salad sandwiches on the way. The girls asked for some music, so naturally we put "Wicked" on. (How fun to get "in the mood".) We arrived at my sister Holly's house to change into dress clothes. Then in the car we went again. (Oakley went to a babysitter's house in her neighborhood.) On the way there, I asked the girls if they had any ideas as to where we were going. Brooklyn had been really nervous the day before. She somehow got to thinking that we were taking her on a scary ride somewhere. She hates roller coasters. She decided she wasn't so excited about the "surprise" anymore. But, now that we were in our dress clothes, she was a little more at ease. Her thoughts were that we were going to a "show", and Makenna said a "play". (Makenna's class had gone to a play on a field trip a couple months before.) We didn't confirm or discount their ideas. We parked in garage and walked out and around the corner on the walk. As we turned the corner, the Capitol Theatre's marquee had WICKED on it. Brooklyn was so excited. She said she had thought that that was what we were going to do, especially since we had been listening to Wicked music. Makenna was happy, too. Dakota wasn't sure what was really going on and was trying to take it all in. WICKED was HERE!

The lobby of the theatre was packed and everyone was buzzing. The show had just opened the night before. We got seat cushions for Makenna and Dakota to raise them up a bit in their seats, and bought Wicked t-shirts for the girls (holy cow expensive!), and had the girls all go to the potty so we wouldn't have bathroom emergencies during the show. Our seats were split, so we had four on one row and four a couple rows back. I sat with Brooklyn, Makenna, and Heidi in the one row and Darin sat next to Dakota with Holly and her friend, Garth, in the other row. Holly took the girls up front to look down into the orchestra pit and see the stage. Darin visited with some long lost friends he found there, and I was making sure everyone was situated and comfortable. The lights soon dimmed, the music began, and the show started. The girls were entranced, sucked in by the motion, lighting, costuming, and of course, the music. They are all very familiar with the music, so for them to finally see it in this setting was absolutely amazing for them. They could all see very well. I had the guy with the big head in front of me. Darin and I switched for the second half. He said I had to see Dakota's face as she watched the show. Absolute awe struck, he said. Well, I heard nothing but, "I'm tired. I wanna lay my head down." (wiggle, wiggle, up, down, move this way, move that way)...from Dakota during the second half. It wouldn't last long, 'cuz she too would be sucked in at moments, only to remember that she was tired and went back to complaining about it. She was mostly good while I sat with her, but was often telling her to be quiet and to listen. Had she not been so familiar with the music, we wouldn't have even considered taking her to something like this. When I asked her what her favorite part was she said, "The End". (Is that not so "Dakota" or what"!!!?) She later went on to describe her other favorite parts, which included "Dancing Through Life", the moving dragon with red eyes above the stage, and the dancer boy who was wearing a skirt (as part of his costume). Brooklyn and Makenna, of course, loved "Popular" and "Defying Gravity", the humor, and the singing and dancing. Makenna noticed so much of what was going on on stage and she would even comment about the moving scenery pieces and other minuscule details that none of us would notice or think about. We were sad when it was over (except Dakota, maybe). After six months of waiting and anticipation and secret surprises...it was now all over. And the cast did not disappoint. The understudy who played Glinda's part was a "off" on her singing, often hitting flat notes, which was a little sad. But her acting was right on! The stand-in for Elphaba was immaculate both in voice and acting. She was the closest thing we have heard or seen to the original part played by Idina Mendez. AMAZING! And the ensemble cast was absolutely terrific as well. We've heard others say that this cast overall was the best they've seen anywhere, including L.A., Chicago, and New York! WOW! It was very good and fun for all and we feel extremely lucky to have seen it.

After the show, Holly picked up Oakley and we went back to her house for some amazing home-cooked food. (We couldn't afford to go out to eat after that t-shirt purchase - ha, ha!) and the girls colored Easter Eggs. We couldn't get the Wicked music out of our heads and as we were working in the kitchen, someone would break-out in some spontaneous line of song from the show. "Just you and I defy-ing gra-vity.", ""I'm gonna' make you pop-u-lar.", "One short day in the Em-er-ald Ci-ty" or "Won-derful. They call me Won-derful..."

So, although the show is over, the music lives on. So, do the memories of the production. The girls will now say, "This is the part when..." when they hear the soundtrack. Darin will come home BLARING the Wicked music from his car stereo singing right along side the girls on the ride. Those memories and family fun will always be there. Eventually, we want them to see "Les Miserable" and "The Phantom of the Opera"; two other soundtracks they are very familiar with. So, we better start saving now for those tickets for when that opportunity arises and (never buy show t-shirts again).

If the green play arrow is missing, try finding the edge of it in the top left corner of the slide show screen. It keeps going missing on mine. Otherwise, if you click directly on the slide show it will kick you out into my Picasa web albums instead of just playing the slide show there on my blog. Go figure!