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!"

Running out of Gas

I suppose it will come as no great surprise to any frequent fliers out there that our plane was delayed in San Francisco due to "weather" which put our return to Eugene into the wee hours of Saturday morning -- but we were surprised to have our flight routed the looooong way round from JFK to SFO to avoid major turbulence. When the pilot announced that we would be flying over Amarillo, Texas to reach California, the flight attendant's smiles all turned upside down. What was a five hour flight heading East became an eight hour flight coming back. Oiy! That's a long time in a small space...

We had intended to take the day off to get some rest, but continuing our love of theater we headed out immediately for Cirque de la Symphonie with Daniel Meyer as the Guest Conductor. This should have been easy, especially compared to taking the subway back to Brooklyn at midnight on the weekend schedule after seeing Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theater on Broadway.

We even laughed about it at the time. Standing there in the frenetic, craziness that is Times Square, trying to figure out the best way to get back to our night's lodging, we commented on the ease of attending events at the Hult Center. We can easily walk home or if it's cold and too late at night, friends drop us off.

But not this time. As four of us climbed the steps to watch acrobatics set to music, we realized that two of the tickets were missing. Our friend immediately grabbed his date's hand and jumped back into the car to race home and look for them. Meanwhile, Groom and I headed for the box office to see if there was any chance of ticket replacements. Yes! For a $4.00 surcharge they would reissue the misplaced ones.

Thankfully our friend answered his cell phone and immediately turned the car around. As it didn't take long, we figured they'd be back within minutes, enough time to enjoy the show.

Tick tock.  

Finally, they popped back into the center for the performing arts at the last minute. Guess what? They had run out of gas and had to walk! 

After two hours of listening to the Eugene Symphony play well known songs from Carmen, Swan Lake and Masquerade while a juggler juggled, a girl hoola-hooped and a bare-chested man in tight, white pants flew over the audience by hanging onto two white curtainy lengths of white fabric, we headed over to a local restaurant for dinner.

There, Triple AAA was called and they sent a man to put gas in the tank while we ate. All's well that ends well.

The running out of gas metaphor is incredibly accurate and reflective. We had an adventure, were entertained, ate good food, ran out of gas and managed to get back home unscathed. So, while it might seem odd that we need a vacation from our vacations, it really is time to refuel. I'm off to catch some much needed Zzzzzz's.    

Birthday in the Big City

With all of the fantastic things leading up to today, it's hard to imagine just what the day will bring...but, I already feel loved, and that's hard to beat!

We started yesterday with a yummy breakfast in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, and wrapped up the evening with not one, but two, fun shows. While in line for tickets to Billy Elliott, we were invited to the taping of David Letterman. So much for that leisurely dinner before our second Broadway show of the week, but what a hoot!

Billy Elliot was a great show to see on Broadway, and the cast even received a standing ovation (which, unlike at home, does not happen at every show here). I have to say one thing, though - I now have a whole new appreciation of the Hult Center in Eugene. The sound, seating, and quality of the road productions staged there rival what we are seeing here. How lucky are we?!

Ken continued his string of surprising antics this AM by stringing up Birthday banners in the kitchen,which made that first cup of coffee even better (and we all know how much I love my coffee). Off now to enjoy the further fruits of the Big Apple.