A Wicked 10th Anniversary!
Today is our 10th wedding anniversary and, although we’re not doing anything particularly exciting (except opening a bottle of Tabor Hill’s Cabernet Franc - Michigan has some incredible Cab Francs and this is one of our favs!), Wednesday evening was the “proper” celebration! We spent the night in Chicago and attended Wicked!
I bought JJ the soundtrack about a year ago for her birthday, and though it took us a while to “get into” it, we’ve absolutely fallen in love with it.
You never quite know what you’re in for when you attend a “Broadway” show off Broadway - the singers can be weak, the set can be paired down too much, the theaters are sometimes incapable of truly handling that kind of production, but this time we hit the jackpot; it was a great evening! I am amazed by both how well you can get the story from just learning the soundtrack.. but also how well you don’t - everything finally makes sense! Our tickets were great: O13-15, and we splurged for suite service, which included drinks, hors dourves and a respite from the crowds before the show and during intermission (which could have been a bit longer!) - a little pricey but TOTALLY worth it!
The chorus was a bit on the weak side and some of the choreography was a little too Saturday-night-live-ish, but the two main characters, Glinda (Annaleigh Ashford) and Elphaba (Lisa Brescia), were great. Lisa Brescia especially! Elphaba requires a pretty solid instrument and there are a couple of duets with Glinda and Elphaba that demand the ability to both wail out at the top of your lungs and yet blend sensitively. They both lived up to the part.
If you don’t get to go to the show but you’re in Chicago’s theater district sometime at least try to check out the Oriental Theater. WOW! I’d (almost) kill to see die Zauberfloute there - it would be the perfect setting. I can close my eyes and almost hear the Der Hölle Rache reflecting off the ceiling…. In any case, it’s beautiful! The theater is covered with unbelievably gorgeous carvings, the seating is well-placed, the acoustics (as far as you can tell from a mic’d show) seem pretty good. Have I said “Wow?!”
Anyhow, 10 years… it’s hard to believe.
Happy Anniversary JJ!
Grace and Peace,
`tim
One Response to “A Wicked 10th Anniversary!”
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June 29th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Congratulations to you Tim and JJ!!
When I had been married for 10 years, I remember being HUGELY pregnant with my 3rd child. . .attending Wicked and leaving the one child with caregivers sounds MUCH better