I listened to the music for years, and always wanted to see it performed, but plans never seemed to work out. I either didn't have friends who wanted to see it when I was free, or friends who were planning to see it when I was busy. It was a whirlwind. The first Broadway show I saw was the Lion King and ASU's Gammage theatre. Amazing. Then I saw my most favorite musical ever, Phantom. Double amazing. SO you all can imagine how excited I was when I half-heartedly suggested to my boyfriend 4 months ago that I wanted to see it. I knew my boyfriend would watch musicals with me, but I didn't expect him to be so excited, too. I cannot believe how blessed I am to have found a man who will not only watch, but ENJOY musicals with me as well. From December until March, the "If" of seeing Wicked started driving me crazy. There were always financial things that popped up just in the nick of time so that I could not buy the tickets. I could've actually just bought the cheapest seats, but I was stubborn and only wanted great seats, or I was not going at all. Not sure how I would've pulled it off without my tax return, but I ended up getting a car AND spending over two hundred bucks on Wicked in the same week. I felt super accomplished =)
So on Friday March 29, after waiting 5 years, I finally got to see Wicked! I drove 4 hours, spent a lot of money, and every penny was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. The only negative thing I would say about the experience is that Tuscon Music Hall is kind of deceiving. The theatre is a lot smaller than they make it seem. If I had originally known that, I would not have spent as much money, and probably would have been only a couple rows further back. This had never been the case when I went to Gammage at ASU; there, you pay for what you get. So, even though that was a tiny downer, it's better safe than sorry. I can't regret it too much because those actors deserved my money. Glinda and Elphaba were outstanding. The thing I loved most about this particular show was, surprisingly, Glinda. I have always had a negative vibe towards anyone who plays Glinda, because I think Kristen Chenoweth is the epitome of that character. Her voice is so quirky that I didn't see anyone ever matching that. This Glinda was so amazing, and literally stole everyone's hearts with her solo "Popular." She started off kinda funny, then the audience slowly built her up, and pretty soon the entire audience was going crazy!! She did such an amazing job, and my boyfriend and I were laughing so hard! I personally loved Elphaba at the end of "Defying Gravity" and "No Good Deed", her last belts were so pure and strong. It takes some talent to match those songs with just amazing acting, which is what Glinda did. She made everyone laugh just as much as Elphaba made everyone cry. It was the perfect unison to make a perfect show.
Ironically, I'm kind of glad that I had to wait so long. I was recently in Children of Eden at my community college this spring, and I think being in that show and then seeing Wicked made me appreciate Stephen Schwartz even more. Children of Eden has some beautiful music, but Wicked is really Schwartz at his best. Here are some pictures of us at the show! This is by far my favorite dress for right now, so I'm going to show it off a little =)
