Wicked

Today, I'm sure you are expecting to see a bunch of pictures of Meg and Kate in costume once again. Ahh, but something has 'trumped' my Halloween posting . . . and, after two days, I figured you needed a break from my zebra and piggy, anyway.

Instead, I must write about an experience I had last night.

I saw "Wicked" . . . the Broadway musical . . . right here in Atlanta.


To say it was amazing is an understatement. To describe any of it to you with only the silly words or spunky verbiage I can muster up would do it an injustice. To say that I loved it would NOT be enough.

I feel like the luckiest girl alive. On Tuesday evening, my best friend and best college buddy called me on her way home from work, as she does usually once each week. After our normal, "What's up at your house?" chat, she busted in with . . . "Well, I'm calling to ask you something . . ."

That can always mean a multitude of things. We are like sisters, this friend and I . . . we are always asking one another for different favors. But this time, it was something that I would never have expected.

"(My husband) and I are going to see Wicked at the Fox on Thursday. My mom is going too, and it turns out she has one extra ticket. I'm so sorry we can't invite Jim, but if you'd like to come . . ."

I'm not sure what else she said. All I heard was something about seeing Wicked . . . one ticket available . . . and that I was invited to join them for the show.

If you are a recent 'subscriber' to this blog, you may not have heard about the Wicked ticket debacle in NYC back in April (no pun intended). You can read about it here and here . Or I can just sum it up: Jim and I bought 2 tickets to see the show in NYC from some dude on Craig's List. $250 for the seats, and they were counterfeit. It was a horrible experience.

When I heard that Wicked was coming to Atlanta, Jim somewhat scoffed at the idea of trying to get tickets. He even declined to see it when we were in Chicago just 2 weeks ago. Seems he's quite jaded from our whole NYC experience; he lost interest in seeing the show. So, I had just thrown my hands up and figured (a) I won't get to see it, but life will go on OR (b) sometime in the future, I will be surprised with tickets because Jim knows had badly I'd like to see the musical.



I got surprised with tickets . . . but not by Jim.

My friend's mom had purchased a whole group of tickets for herself, her family, and some of her work friends. When all was said and done . . . and 17 tickets were handed out . . . there was one left. And my darling friend (and her darling mom) thought of me.

Not only was I lucky enough to be offered the ticket, I was also lucky enough to have been offered the ticket on a night when Jim was home to watch the girls. I could actually go . . . no babysitter needed. No stress, no worry. Daddy and the girls would have a night to themselves.

It all just fell into place. And -- I ask you -- how often does that actually happen?

Please don't worry about Jim . . . no, he didn't get to see the show. But, I don't think it was all too disappointed. Sure, after I came home raving about it, there was a part of him that felt he'd missed out . . . but, he's honestly not that much of a musical theatre (or theatre in general) kind of guy. He goes to shows because I love it. Just knowing that I was finally getting to see Wicked was enough to make him enjoy staying home with the girls and send me off with my friends. (Thank you, Jim. I love you.)

Together with my buddy, her husband, and her mom, we piled in the car rode to the Fox for the show yesterday evening. The ride down was full of excitement . . . we chatted it up about different things going on in our lives and paid little attention to the traffic of downtown or the time it was taking us to make it to the theatre. We were all anticipating what the evening had in store for us.

The excitement continued as we left the car and walked to the theatre. The show was sold out . . . people were everywhere . . . the place was buzzing. They had even changed the lights in the Fox Theatre marquee from red to GREEN for this show. The whole place was electric, and all because of this amazing musical. I kept saying over and over . . . "I'm so excited! Thank you for inviting me!"

As we got to the door, I said to my friend, "Now imagine . . . if we had done all of this, we were all dressed up like this, so so excited . . . and these people right here taking our tickets said Nope, you can't come in. " THAT was exactly what had happened to us in New York. Just remembering that feeling breaks my heart all over again.

But not this time. This time, my ticket *dinged!* just like it was supposed to when scanned, and into the theatre we went. I know I was smiling from ear to ear.

The show itself is absolutely incredible. It was, without a doubt, more than I could have even expected. The story -- which follows Glenda (the good witch) and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz before the arrival of Dorothy and Toto -- is so cleverly written, so funny, and so captivating. The music -- just spectacular. I came home and downloaded the soundtrack before I went to bed. I can't say enough about the show . . . and I can't say too much, either. I would not want to ruin it for anyone. I would want you all to see it as wide-eyed and unknowing as I was. I loved, loved it.

I got to see Wicked. I am still so excited about that . . . and here we are, a day after it has already happened.

Thank you, my friend, from the bottom of my heart. I feel so, so lucky to have been able to see this musical with you and your family. I feel like a part of your family because you included me, because you though of me and knew how much I wanted to see this show. I'm just so grateful for a friend like you.

I got to see Wicked!!