It was (mostly) wonderful

This weekend was a big one for my sister, Heather, and my niece, Megan. For Christmas, Heather gave Megan tickets to see Wicked in New York (hey, Heather – could you talk to Sean next Christmas for me?!) and this was the weekend Megan’s been looking forward to since December 25^th. And I’ve been looking forward to it for them!

Christmas morning!
(I just noticed the date on the ticket says 2/21 - guess that
got changed since they most definitely saw the show on 2/27!)

Unfortunately, all did not go as planned. Megan got the flu last Tuesday, putting their Thursday departure in jeopardy. Then Heather caught a bit of the bug, but both were bound and determined to leave the boys at home and have one short day (or three) in the magical city of New York.

Thankfully Megan was well enough for the plane trip and after spending all of Friday resting in the hotel room she was able to really enjoy the show Friday night. (Even if she didn't feel well going in, all the wonderfulness in the musical would surely cure her! I’m confident hearing Fiyero sing “Dancing Through Life” would cure me of a whole lotta yuck.)

They weren’t able to see the town as much as Heather would have liked – Megan just wasn’t quite up to it. But she saw Wicked, which was the whole point of the trip… I’m beginning to think I should get some kind of cut from ol’ Stephen Schwartz since, on my recommendation, at least 20 tickets have been purchased, not to mention several soundtracks. I’m sure he’ll get right on that.

And on Sunday, after so much of the weekend hadn’t gone quite as planned, Atlanta got two inches of snow and their flight from LGA to ATL was canceled. So they flew into Charleston, rented a car and drove home. Her car is still in Atlanta; Dad’s helping get it back to her, thank goodness. But when I talked to Heather late Sunday night she and Megan had the music cranked and they were, according to Heather, rocking the rental car.

I can’t wait to see the pictures!

Aunt Christy's contribution to the fun - a Galinda Popular shirt.

One Wicked Good Night

Oh. My. Word. Guess who we just met! Cliffton Hall, Deedee Magno Hall, Donna Vivino and Myra Lucretia Taylor. Not impressed? You should be because that’s Fiyero, Nessarose, Elphaba and Madame Morrible! Woo Hoo!

Let me start from the beginning of our wonderful Wicked evening: Amy and I met our friend Cindy for dinner then the three of us drove over to the Wharton Center to meet my friend Marty and her three nieces, Emily, Julia and Megan, friends of Amy’s. We got there in plenty of time, found our seats (Row U, center – we had a great view of everything and thankfully no tall people sat in front of us) and enjoyed a fabulous evening of Wicked. I didn’t think it could get any better. I was wrong!

I parked near the stage door again, and this time I figured out how to walk around the parking deck to the stage door. Just as we were scooting around the corner we spotted the Halls talking with a family and signing autographs. Amy and Emily went nuts. I tried to calm them down (which was a switch for me because I have been known to be quite the groupie) and they got their acts together enough to ask for an autograph and pose for a picture.



The Halls were gracious and seemed completely unfazed by the two girls swooning at them. All I could think was, “This must be how my mother felt at all those Amy Grant concerts…”

We then got to meet Vivino, the standby for Elphaba. I couldn’t believe she was the standby – she was phenomenal. Crazy good. She still had a bit of her green face paint smeared at her hairline. The girls thought that was great.

Then came Taylor. She looked nothing like Madame Morrible – I know she wears a wig and outrageous costumes but I thought I’d recognize her a little. No way. She was so short! She seemed pleased that such young girls were interested in the theater, and signed their Playbills willingly.

I’m not sure (and Amy will never tell me), but I think I may have earned some cool Mom points by finding the way to the stage door. I will take those points any time I can get them, even if I’m not supposed to know I have them.

As I tucked Amy in a few minutes ago she was still floating. It was a wonderful night for her and a wonderful night for us. I could us a few more nights like that. But for now, I am content to thank God for graciously giving us a completely conflict-free, fun time together.

Wicked Good Fun

We saw Wicked last night with our friends Jill and Randy and their two girls. I was afraid I’d oversold it – even after a gazillion listens I am still mesmerized by the music and I tend to gush just a bit when talking about the musical. So when Jill and Randy both said they enjoyed it I was thrilled.

We ran into friends of Amy’s there so that was fun for my little social butterfly. I love the friend’s mom who is just so darn cool. Turns out MG and her clan were parked right by us so we all walked out together.

Without realizing it, we’d parked just steps away from the stage door. We were separated from the door by fencing that surrounded the parking deck but we had a clear view of the doorway so when Cliffton Hall (Fiyero) and DeeDee Magno Hall (Nessarose) stepped out you would have thought we’d all lost our minds. We’re clapping and yelling and whistling; I had major flashbacks to the 80’s and all the Amy Grant concerts I went to.

They were talking with someone on the other side of the fence but when they finished their conversation they walked over to us and gave the best high fives they could through the chain link fence. I was excited because Hall is my all-time favorite Fiyero and I adore his wife Magno Hall as Nessarose. And there’s just something sweet about them performing together.

We waited around to see if anyone else from the cast might walk through the door but no one did. I did not care one little bit; I got to see Fiyero up close. And besides, now I know where the stage door is so when Amy and I go back next week we’ll know where to park…