Simply OZ-some

I absolutely love when something lives up to its hype. And Wicked definitely did that!

As I was reading the book last night, I decided not to finish it after all. Whether the musical follows the book closely or not, I wanted to be surprised at the ending. And I was!

I realize I am just about the last person on the planet to see this Broadway play, but I still will be nice and not spoil it. I can say it's the story of friendship between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good -- 2 characters we all know from the Wizard of Oz. And, as the promo trailers indicate: so much happened before Dorothy dropped in...

My friend Christine and I hit the road (not the Yellow Brick one) by 10:30 a.m. so we'd have time to grab some lunch in Appleton before heading over the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. Got there plenty early to snap some photos in the lobby. Then headed inside to our seats -- in the 4th row!!

Oh yes, we have been excited about this since we got our tickets in October. A long wait and soooo worth the wait.

Nothing compares to live shows with the orchestra playing and all the sights, smells and sounds. It was an incredible theatrical production -- not to mention the wonderful story line and phenomenal singing. We laughed a lot. And, well, we cried, too. I honestly was moved to tears at least 3 times. Some of it due to the story and some of it due to the power of song. After the end of the first act, I just sat there and said, "Wow!"

And really, no words can describe it justly. I'll just say I can see why people see it more than once and definitely can understand why it's a great show to see with your sisters and girlfriends...

Even the Wicked ones.