Elphaba

Madame Morrible:  You must be Nessarose, what a tragically beautiful face. And where is- [Turns to Elphaba and screams]

Elphaba: I'm the other daughter, Elphaba. I'm beautifully tragic.

For those of you that don't know, Elphaba is the main character in the book (and Broadway musical that was based on the book) Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. It is the telling of the life of the one most people know as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.

 Glinda: [pointing to Elphaba's broom] You're not still carrying that old thing around?!
Elphaba: Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!

I love that it's a captivating tale from a perspective that others wouldn't have even thought to tell and of what she endured in life and the friendships she made along the way.

Elphaba: What is it? What-do I have something in my teeth? Okay, lets just get this over with: No I'm not seasick, Yes I've always been green, and no I didn't chew grass as a child.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone that's not seen/read it, but let me say that it is well worth it! There are quite a few people, though, that don't like the book. Granted, there are some parts in there that are....odd. But I tend to look past those parts and actually take the story for it's underlying messages. And the musical...I fell in love with it from the first note I heard of the soundtrack in Torie's car that one day, so long ago...(Note: you cannot aptly compare the book and musical! They're apples and oranges.) What I wouldn't give to see Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in the original roles of Elphaba and Galinda...

Elphaba: [in response to Dorothy's crying] Oh, for Oz's sake, stop crying! I can't listen to it anymore! You want to see your Aunt Em and your Uncle what's his name again? Get those shoes off your feet, Little brat! Who takes a dead woman's shoes, must have been raised in a barn!

I raved about the musical so much (and highly recommended the book...I actually really liked it), that I got Misha addicted to both. As in, she liked it so much, that when we went and saw it in London, if we would have had the money, we'd have gone and seen the show a second time that same night!

So between the fact that I got Misha hooked on Wicked and the fact that her favorite character is Elphaba and the fact that her favorite color is green (which just so happens to be Elphaba's skin tone!), not to mention that she tends to run cold in the arena of body temperature, Misha was the first person that popped into my head when I saw a certain shrug kit pop up on Knit Picks! It was too perfect to pass up, so I bought it with the intent to make it her birthday present this year. I was so excited when it came in, that as soon as I finished the items that I was being paid to do, it was the next thing I started. It was done in just over a month. And because of my excitement over this (this is my first knitted adult garment, after all!), I can't wait until October to give it to her. So this weekend, when I'm in her area, I'll be saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY...3 months early!" lol

I am quite in love with how well it came out and I can't wait for her to try it on! :D

In other news...look out for Halloween...we're planning on Misha dressing up as Elphaba and myself as Galinda!!!

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....