A Wicked good time!!!!

Back at the hotel, we freshened up from our jaunt along Portobello Road and met up with Kristin's and my yarn-y friends, Ann and Marie, and the 6 of us headed to the theater for Wicked together.

THE APOLLO VICTORIA THEATER!

PRESS RELEASE OF "WICKED" WITH THE NEW CAST

There were no cameras allowed, but as everyone else was pulling them out to get a shot of the stage, I used my phone and got one of my own!

THE STAGE FOR THE BROADWAY MUSICAL "WICKED"; 

UP TOP IS THE DRAGON OF THE OZIAN TIC-TOC CLOCK, AND IN THE BACK IS A MAP OF OZ

The show was....if I could fit it into one word, it would be "AMAZING"! I've seen it once before, in Denver about 6 years ago or so, but I fell instantly in love with it and am all about enabling others to get hooked on the show as well! I have listened to the soundtrack sooooooooo many times that...well, let's just say that if we were still in the era of cassette tapes instead of CD's and MP3s, my tape would have been worn out many times over. But nothing, and I mean nothing compares to actually seeing the show. I get teary-eyed every time I hear the song "For Good," but at the show that night, I know I full out cried at least half a dozen times. Probably more, since every time Elphaba opened her mouth to sing, I'd get chills and choked up. It was definitely different to hear it all with British accents when I'd listened so long to Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda, but the Elphaba we saw, Rachel Tucker, blew it out of the park. I was so impressed with her, and I believe she gained more than just one follower that night! (After we got back to the hotel, we youtubed her, and the three of us are all anxiously awaiting the release of an album of her own at some time in the future...)

RACHEL TUCKER AND LOUISE DEARMAN IN "DEFYING GRAVITY"

(NOTE: WE SAW RACHEL TUCKER AND CHLOE TAYLOR) 

Obviously, someone was breaking rules in recording the above video, but I can't keep something like Wicked or Rachel Tucker a secret. lol The Galinda in the video is not the one that we saw, either. We saw Chloe Taylor. But how anyone could not have been blown away, I'll never know...

THE ELPHABA, GALINDA AND FIYERO WE SAW 

(SORRY FOR THE POOR VIDEO! GOTTA LOVE YOUTUBE...)

AUDIO OF RACHEL TUCKER AS ELPHABA AND MARK EVANS AS FIYERO

After the show, we waited around for a little bit to see if any of the cast would come out, and we were lucky enough to get to see Mark Evans (who played Fiyero) and get photos with him and his autograph. :D Unfortunately, he said that as there was a second show that night, the others that had more makeup on (most specifically Elphaba! LOL) would not come out between shows, so he was the only one we got.

KRISTIN WITH MARK EVANS/FIYERO

 

After the show, we all went together to eat at an Italian restaurant (which seemed pretty authentic to me...much closer, at least, than the American-Italian food!) before seeing Heather off at the Underground station and heading back to the hotel for the night. 

(Here is Misha's recounting of seeing Wicked for the first time.)

TO BE CONTINUED....