This was the first thing Natalie yelled yesterday morning.
I had told her for months that we were going to get to see the musical. I kept reminding her that we had to be quiet during the show. We could not shout, "WHAT HAPPENED?" if we were concerned about something. We could not yell, "I want her dress!" when Glinda came on stage.
Look, I know my daughter. I know she is capable of doing those things.
We drove to the Civic Center and took a picture with the Wicked sign:
It's a little blurry because electronics confuse my mother.
I had seen Wicked in NYC a couple of years ago with my best friend Jennifer. The stage was set up the same as it was there:
Natalie was worried about the dragon. "It's not going to try and eat us, is it?"
"It will if you talk during the show," I answered.
Natalie's mouth dropped open.
The show began and I was immediately sucked into the music and storyline. Yes, I might have seen it before in NYC but it was still amazing. I always marvel when people can sing. Really sing. This is because I can't carry a note. Natalie cracked up during the song Popular and whispered to me that she wanted Glinda's pink dress. Natalie climbed on my lap when the Wizard's face began to talk. The flying monkeys also made her a bit nervous. She loved the Defying Gravity number. She had seen it on YouTube so she knew Elphaba was going to fly. When she did, Natalie went, "She's magic."
At intermission when the lights came on Natalie went, "That's all? That wasn't an ending."
I explained intermission to her as we went out to stretch our legs. I saw the long line stretching out of the women's bathroom and thought, "Thank goodness I don't have to go. Thank goodness we don't have wa--"
"Mommy? I need to pee," Natalie said.
Ugh.
So we had to wait in the long line.
Then we went back to our seats and the show began again. It was still amazing. I knew the ending. I knew what to expect. But it still made me tear up. Especially with the For Good song. I once tried to explain it to Tom after I had seen it in NYC. "And...they had to say GOODBYE to each other. They told each other how they helped one another...through SONG. Would you ever tell me how I made you a better person through song?" I asked Tom, gripping his arm. "No. Never," he answered. Rude.
Anyway, Natalie was concerned when Elphaba melted.
"But I loved her!" Natalie whispered. "I loved her," she said into my ear.
I won't give away what happens because I know there are still people out there who don't know. I know this because of all the gasps I heard in the audience.
The show was fabulous. I loved the cast--they were just as good as the one in NYC. However, I preferred the atmosphere in NYC because, hello, it's NYC. Also, that theater was more civilized. The Civic Center allowed people to come to the show late. Which irked me because hello, distracting. Also, you could drink and they said not to eat food, but people still ate food so you could hear the paper crinkling from said food. Annoying. But other than that, I still loved Wicked. I think I would love Wicked if children sang it off key. The story is just that good.
(Does anyone else love the name Boq?)
When the show was over, some actors came out to take donations for the tornado victims. Not Elphaba or Glinda. Natalie wished. She wanted to tell Glinda that she loved her sparkly dress and clown. She wanted to tell Elphaba that it made her sad when she melted. She also wanted to tell her she liked her flying broom.
There was a flying monkey walking around and Natalie was excited to meet him at first, but then when we got up close she attached herself to my leg and went, "I'm freaked out!" So we left the flying monkey and found the dude who played the wizard. He had an awesome voice. Talking and singing. Very soothing.
"That man who drank the green juice told me he liked my dress," Natalie informed me primly after the picture.
If you haven't seen Wicked, you should! You'll love it!
If you're around the Oklahoma City area, it'll play until September 22nd so you still have time. And no, I was not paid to say that. I just love Wicked that much. I'd go see it again if I had the money.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to the soundtrack and pretend as though I can sing.
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