Wicked...

Ok, so for those of you who don't know, I am a HUGE fan of the Wizard of Oz! Seriously, when I was little I watched it all the time! In fact, I watched it so much that my parents would turn on the movie, put it on mute, and I would say all the lines and sing all the songs. I would even sing the "Munchkin Land" song, complete with funny voice and dance. Well, this year for Christmas, my parents got me tickets to see Wicked! In case you don't know, Wicked is the story of the Witches of Oz. It's about the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch. I was SO EXCITED to go see the musical. Not only do I love the Wizard of Oz, but I love musicals too! The tickets were for the last evening performance of Wicked in Chicago. It has been playing here for 3 years. So, Matt and I got dressed up (I got to wear my bridesmaid dress from Jen's wedding again!), went out for a nice dinner, and then headed off to the Oriental Theater for the musical. When we got there, we were amazed by the beautiful architecture inside the theater. But the best was yet to come. The show started with a huge mechanical dragon that moved above the stage, and continued with beautiful scenery, amazing costumes, and an incredible performance all around. Even Matt watched intently, and he generally doesn't even like musicals! The entire production was magical, and made me feel like a kid again as I sat there, eager to learn the story of these witches, and to see how it all fit together with the Wizard of Oz. And the two stories fit together seamlessly. Wow! It was so amazing! I wish each of you could have been there to see this amazing show. Sadly, it is no longer playing in Chicago. But if you ever have a chance to see it, you should definitely take the opportunity! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the theater, or during the show, but here are a couple we took outside.

(Click to Enlarge)

P.S. Please note, you can tell in the picture of me by myself that I am not wearing anything on my legs. Let me just say, this was NOT a good idea! Forgetting that I live in Chicago, and that the wind chill was -20 that night, I got ready and rushed out the door, without thought of putting on hose. Now, in Alabama, or even Oklahoma on a cold night, this would not be a problem. Rush out of the house, into the car, turn on the heater, and you're fine. Not so much in Chicago. I did rush out of the building into a taxi on the way to dinner. However, the taxi dropped us at the wrong restaraunt, so we had to walk a block outside to the right one. My legs were cold, but it was bearable. However, when we left dinner, we had to walk 4 blocks (into the wind) to the theater. By the time we got there, I honestly could not feel my toes and everytime I took a step, it felt like needles were stabbing all over my legs. By the time we got into the theater, it was all I could do to keep from crying. We got to our seats, and I wrapped Matt's coat around my legs and put my gloves on my feet (seriously). About 10 minutes later, the feeling came back to my toes. Lesson learned.