Four years ago my sister moved up to NYC for a job in fashion. I went up for her birthday week and bought us tickets to see Wicked. It was the hot show at the time and we were both dying to see it. Then there was the strike and all of the shows shut down for a week during negotiations. That was the week I was in town to see the show. I was refunded my money and my sister got to go shopping, but we didn't get to see the show.
Fast forward to early 2011. Wicked was coming back to Atlanta in the Fall. I asked all my friends who might be interested and we booked tickets the first day they were available.
The show has been in town for a little over a week and all of the posts on facebook of people going to the show were driving me nuts. When would it be our turn!?! Last night our date had finally arrived. Four of us met for dinner at Top Flr (still, after a 2nd trip, it's one of my favorite places in Atlanta) for a quick dinner then we were off to The Fox Theater to see Wicked. I was a little worried that I had built up the show so much in my head that it wouldn't deliver, I'm so glad I was wrong.
We were sitting in row DD of the Orchestra section, not bad seats. Elphaba was played by Dee Roscioli, the actress who has played the character more times than anyone else. She was unbelievable. Defying Gravity was everything I hoped it would be. It brought tears to the eyes of the 5 of us ladies in the group.
Glinda was played by Amanda Jane Cooper. I kept picturing Kristin Chenoweth. Not that she wasn't good, she was fantastic, but I really wanted to see Kristin. Fiyero, played by Colin Hanlon wasn't as strong as I wanted him to be, but he's forgiven because of how great the other two characters were. I wanted a strong male voice, like the Phantom, and he wasn't that.
The story follows Elphaba and Glinda, both witches, as young girls, before Dorothy's house came crashing down in Oz. Wicked is the story of friendship between the two girls and raises the question, are people born evil, or is it something that happens to them? The story also answers the questions as to how some of the characters in the Wizard of Oz happen to be and gives us a background story to why the wizard would leave with Dorothy at the end of the movie. It's fascinating to see someone else's take on the story.
If you haven't seen the show, please pick up tickets the next time it's in your city. It was well worth 4 years of waiting, I only wish I had seen it earlier.
After the show the cast was collecting donations for charity. Of course we were going to donate. I just didn't know how much and the surprise Stephen had up his sleeve. For a $60 donation you got a Wicked poster signed by the cast. With out discussion Stephen was buying it for me. Apparently he had been planning on buying me one all along. I'm one lucky girl.
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