Wicked -The Musical

I love going to Broadway shows. When I was a kid, I used to go to one Broadway show a year. I went to one or two with my mom, but my aunt would take my brother and I to a show a year – a tradition. As I got older that tradition faded and I went to a few shows here and there over the years with friends. It wasn’t that I didn’t have time, but that so many shows are hard to get tickets for and it can be hard to find a person or people to go with.

For years I’ve wanted to see Wicked, but when it first came out it was impossible to get tickets. And I mean impossible. Then, I just didn’t see any shows for a couple of years, but I finally got to see it this past weekend and believe me it was worth the wait. The show was incredible and I can completely understand why so many people have seen it multiple times!

For any of you that don’t know the premise of the story, I’ll give you a little background. The musical is an adaptation of the novel by Gregory Maguire and tells the story of Elphaba (otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz) and Glinda. It’s a twist on the classic tale and shows the two growing up prior to the events in The Wizard of Oz and the “untold” story of their friendship. The roles of Elphaba and Glinda were originated by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth so you know with heavy hitters like that the show was going to be a smash hit when it debuted in 2003. It’s now 2016 and it’s still a huge success. I mean, I had to buy my tickets months in advance and I sat pretty high up and still had to pay a pretty penny. Definitely worth it though!

Since seeing the show over the weekend, I’ve added the soundtrack to my Spotify and I find myself humming music from the show all the time! My favorite songs are “Popular”, “I’m Not That Girl”, and “Defying Gravity”. The show is so clever and will have you laughing and crying all in one sitting. There are some definite heartbreaking scenes – I could hear people crying all around me. That’s one of the things I love about the theater and actually also seeing movies at the theater. It’s a collective experience. People laugh, cry, and think together. During intermission, I actually overheard a man sitting behind me telling his wife that the show did a great job of showing racism. While the show doesn’t actually talk about race, it does show the idea of social class and one being “better” than another or using people who are different as scapegoats.

If you ever have the chance to see Wicked, I highly recommend it. I guarantee you will have all the feels!

A short video of my day in the city will be up next week on my YouTube channel!