Wicked

owen

Wicked posterIt’s been a weird week, and hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more about it soon, but for now, I’ll just tell you how it was capped off.

On Saturday afternoon, Mom watched the kids while Berta and I went to the musical Wicked, based on the book by Gregory Maguire. And in perfect contrast to the showing of Chicago we saw, Wicked was wicked.

In case you aren’t familiar with the idea: Wicked is a story about the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz. You’re familiar with the story from the movie, The Wizard of Oz, right? Well, if you haven’t read or seen Wicked, then you have no idea what really happened.

Did you know that Glinda the Good was actually the wicked witch’s friend? They were roommates in school! And Glinda was (is) kind of a ditz.

The story is amazing. They give reasoning for pretty much everything. You find out the origins of the witches, Alphaba and her sister (squashed by Dorothy’s tornado-propelled house) Nissa Rose. You find out how the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion came to be who they were. Yes, the flying monkies - all explained. And shockingly, you come to learn how everything you know about “good” and “evil” in the world of Oz is just… wrong! The story fits seamlessly right on top of the original. It’s really an amazing feat of writing.

One of my major complaints about some musicals, Chicago for example, is that the story all happens in narrative between the music. For me, if the music is not telling the story, then why did they make a musical from it? Wicked does not disappoint.

Everything important in Wicked is told via song. And the songs are pretty darn good. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack today, and it’s really good. One of my favorite tunes is called “What Is This Feeling?” and it’s great. What is the feeling? Loathing. Unadulterated loathing. Awesome.

The performers were amazing. I swear to you, if you’re watching that lame American Idol, you need to get your butt out of the house and see some of the performers that are out there doing it. Here’s a sample of one of my other favorites. If it doesn’t get your blood moving, I’m not sure there’s much else I can do to convince you:

That’s the witch, Alphaba, singing about how she’s going to fly away because she has learned about the evil that is going on in Oz. Imagine hearing that live. Many of the songs are as demanding as this one. The actress who played Alphaba could sing, and that’s a gross understatement.

Ah, well. I had a great time at the show, even if our seats weren’t perfect. (I sat behind a column, actually, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.) If not for the lady in the sombrero in front of me, I wouldn’t have had much of an obstructed view at all.

I can’t recommend this show highly enough. If you get a chance to see it, you need to go.

After the show we stopped in King of Prussia for dinner. We thought we would be early enough to beat the crowd for the Cheesecake Factory, but even though we were early for dinner, there were still people foolishly waiting about in the hallway for their tables. When I say “people”, I mean like 30.

So instead of Cheesecake, we went to the Bamboo Club next door. We walked in and sat down. Our food was excellent, if a bit eclectic for people who eat at the Factory next door. Yes, it’s the first time I’ve really been full in quite a while. Good stuff. Those people waiting for the Cheesecake Factory are nuts.

And then home to pick up Riley (Abby stayed over with BB and Nana), who slept in Abby’s bed instead of his crib! Time to reassemble the day bed… <sigh>

Crazy day, crazy day.