Our Wicked Journey

After seven years of anticipating, and four missed opportunities in New York, last night the secrets of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good were finally revealed to us in Wicked, the longest-running show in Broadway’s history.

The beloved musical opened in 2003 and by the time Groom and I had our first chance to visit New York together in 2004, it was completely sold out. Disappointed!

In 2005, while I assisted at a Fashion Show, training for platform work there was not one moment available to see any sites, much less spend three hours sitting in a theater, as I spent all of my time in the Big Apple at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Drats!

In 2008, when Kimmmm and I took Manhattan, we could have seen the show, but I made a deal with Groom that since he was sweet enough to stay home and take care of things while I tripsed and traipsed, I would not see Wicked without him. Aaaaaah…

A couple of months ago, when he and I were standing at the Broadway ticket kiosk at Times Square we could have seen it, but by that time, we already had tickets for the touring company coming to Eugene.

Suffice it to say that last night’s performance at the Hult Center was a highly anticipated event. The morning began with sunshine and a lovely day spent at The Eugene Saturday Market.

Loading our booth structure back in the van, we washed the dust from our hands and just had enough time to make our dinner reservations with friends at The Excelsior Inn Ristorante by 6pm. Fairly adventurous eaters, we tried Black Squid Ink linguine (yes, pasta made from the black ink of a squid) and Wild Boar. Belch. ‘Scuse me.

Walking into the performance hall with five minutes until show time, I managed a long-lined trip to the ladies’ lounge and then found my seat just as the lights went down. Phew! That was close.

Even with the pressure of high expectations, the cast of Wicked delivered. The costumes were so gorgeous they almost made me weep. I wanted every single one of them plus the shoes. I think I turned as green as Elphaba with clothes envy.

Which leads us to this morning. Happy Easter! A girlfriend of mine is moving today and I loved this quote from her email, “Excited about moving some things and getting the keys. As one of my funny friends said, Jesus moved from His home (the cave that day too).”

So maybe an even better celebratory greeting for today would be, "Happy Moving Day!"