wherein I do things that cool people do on their weekends.

Lots of work.  Whatever.

Some studying.  Whatever.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddd...

WICKED!

Lauren, a friend of mine, got tickets for Wicked at Bass Concert Hall last night and invited me to go.  (Of course, I immediately said yes!)  There were 5 of us that went and nobody previously knew each other (except that we all knew Lauren) but we all got along famously.  We had sushi and sake at Afin (I had a killer veggie tempura) before and then crowded in one car, found some magical campus parking (I never knew you could find such a thing before this) and headed into Bass.

 I've seen the show once live, but I keep the soundtrack on a pretty constant rotation in my iTunes.  It's based on a novel by Gregory Maguire called Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.  I have the book (it's about how the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz story came to be so wicked) and it's pretty awesome, but you know me, I like anything better once there's singing involved.

(But definitely check the book out)

The musical originated with Idina Menzel (who also holds a giant place in my heart for her original casting in Rent as Maureen) as Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda (who I played quite memorably in Dripping Springs High School's 2002 production of The Wizard of Oz - ha!) and they pretty much ruined the roles for anyone that followed.  (Enough parentheses in that sentence?)

The actresses last night did a great job (especially considering I listened to the music with Kristen and Idina's voices in my head) but I wasn't the giant-est fan of the lady who played Elphaba.  She had a weird nasal tone to her voice and seemed like she was listening to the same recording I was (the Idina Menzel one).  Despite her killer rendition of "No Good Deed", I definitely preferred Glinda in the show.  Kristin's voice is so unique and full of life, but it's her personality that made Glinda so beloved in the original casting of the show.  I think that makes it a little easier for a someone new to step into the role, and last night's actress took advantage of that.  She definitely put her own personality in the performance, and I loved her take on the song "Popular".

The sets are in-freakin-sane.  Seriously.  They're these giant, imaginative, fantastical things that have crazy mechanical dragons and all these gears and clocks that make it look like a steampunk version of the best Emerald City you ever imagined.  Seriously.

It was a little disappointing last night, though.  Elphaba didn't fly.  Now, admitting that I noticed a technical malfunction during the big number that ends the first act is a little nerdy.  But let's be honest, this whole blog post is about a Broadway musical I saw last night, so I can't exactly pretend I'm being super cool right now.  She was supposed to fly - it's very exciting and poignant, just trust me.

All that super nerdy stuff to say, I had a phenomenal time.  Lauren and I often say that we're the exact same person and oh, did that show itself last night...  We kept turning to each other during the show to say stuff like, "This is my favorite song" or "Oh! That was her best performance so far" and sadly, "Why didn't she fly?"

There are still tickets, (though they're pretty expensive now, I think) and I can't encourage you enough to catch the show while it's still playing in Austin.

Now, I'm gonna go do something cool and totally un-nerdy, like... study.