Wicked

Saturday night I finally got to do what I have been waiting almost 4 years to do. I got to see Wicked!! I have been planning for this night since I heard the show was coming back to San Francisco and it was an amazing night.

Mom, Dad, Kyle's moms, Kyle, and I went together. Kyle's mom arranged for a limo to pick us up in Hayward, a brilliant idea on Barb's part. I never look forward to driving in the city so this was awesome! We were picked up promptly at 4:00 pm, but not before Barb realized I had given her their tickets months ago and she couldn't find them. It's all good though, because our big panic happened early in the evening and ended quickly with the tickets being exactly where they were supposed to be.

We were whisked away by our wonderful limo driver to the Cliff House at Ocean Beach. We were seated right away at a table with a beautiful albeit gray view of the ocean. The water was rough, and the temperature was cold, but the restaurant was warm, bright, and pleasantly bustling which made the view that much more spectacular since we were glad we weren't on one of the little boats being tossed around on the water a couple of miles out.

I recommend our waiter, Michael to anyone who visits the Cliff House. He was very attentive, knowledgeable, and fun. He and the rest of the staff were quick and, but not so fast that we felt rushed. I had delicious Dungeness Crab Cakes to start, Bay Sea Scallops with English peas (never had those before - they were tasty) for my main dish and shared Banana Walnut Bread Pudding with Kyle for dessert. After two hours, six appetizers, six entrees, four desserts, two bottles of wine, and a very LARGE bill :) we were on our way to see the show!

I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve the whole ride to the Orpheum. We couldn't get there fast enough. We pulled up with perfect timing, ten minutes to show time! We made our way through the crowd to our second row loge seats and the show started right on time. Our seats were almost perfect, a little to far to the side, but we could see everything easily. From the moment the Time Dragon Clock started shaking and the orchestra hit that first note, I was sucked in. I wanted to cry for the first ten minutes I was so happy. I couldn't believe I was finally seeing the show.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to see "stand by" next to Elphaba's actress's name (Dee Roscioli), but was blown away by how good she was that I had a hard time believing that the main actress would be any better. Her high notes seemed effortless. I was mesmerized by the whole show. Kendra Kassebaum, who played Glinda, was a total spaz at times but endearing and I really enjoyed her in that part. All of the characters were exactly as I had hoped they would be, although I thought Patty Duke as Madame Morrible could have done a bit better.

The evening flew by but I enjoyed every minute of it. I had so much fun with everyone and was especially glad that I got to share this experience with my parents. I really hope Kyle enjoyed it as much as he says he did. I meant a lot to me to have him, his moms and my parents there. This experience will stay with me for a very long time. I can't wait to see it in New York in a couple of weeks! It'll be by charter bus, but it WILL be BROADWAY!!! Though I can't imagine it topping our evening of Wicked in San Francisco.