A Wicked Evening

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of seeing Wicked at the Boston Opera House.  My good friend Erin and her husband Colby met up with Dave and I at our condo in Salem and we headed into to the city to meet up with my other good friend Ashley and her boyfriend Ethan.  The traffic was not any of our friends on Friday night, so we unfortunately did not make it in early enough to have a pre-show drink.  The plan had been to meet at Bina right next to the Opera House for a martini.  Last year when Erin and I had a girls night seeing Broadway Across America’s Dirty Dancing, we went there before the show and were amazed at one of their signature martinis, The Elderflower Aviation.  It includes Tanqueray Gin, Luxardo Maraschino, Lemon and St. Germain.

Although we missed on pre-show time at Bina, we were happy to see that the Opera House had a bar.  I grabbed a glass of champagne while the rest of the crew grabbed beers.  Our seats in the center mezzanine were ~$80 (2nd tier pricing).  They were pretty straight-on but I must admit that the mezzanine is pretty far back from the stage.  Despite my trusty contacts, I can’t say that I could make out close to a facial expression.  Nonetheless, I was content with my seat, considering I really didn’t want to pay more than double to be closer.

Decorated green

Our view

Have most of you seen or heard about Wicked?  If not, I won’t completely spoil it. All I’ll say is that it is a particularly interesting prelude to the classic Wizard of Oz.  The main characters are Galinda/Glinda (the Good Witch of the North) and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West).  Both performers were fantastic.  I had seen Wicked before with my close friends, Laura and Corinne, in Providence and these characters were just as good as I remembered.  Galinda provides fantasticly vain comic relief.  She makes me giggle just like her character.  Elphaba and her solos gave me goosebumps, particularly Defying Gravity.

If you cannot manage to see this on Broadway, catch one of the Broadway Across America shows like we did. You won’t be disappointed.  Also, my tip for you is to find out where the local box office is once you decide to go.  If you’re fortunate to live close enough, you should stop by and purchase your tickets directly.  You will save yourself about $12 per ticket because you will not have to pay the crappy Ticketmaster convenience charges.

Another fun fact for any of you fellow avid Glee watchers – Galinda on Broadway’s Wicked was played by Kristin Chenoweth who has portrayed April on Glee twice now.  If that doesn’t ring a bell, she was the blonde “drunk” who was in the glee club with Mr. Schuster in high school.  Also interestingly enough, Elphaba on Broadway was played by Idina Menzel  Her role on Glee was Rachel’s biological mother, also the manager of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline.  Another fun fact is that she is married to Taye Diggs, who currently stars in Private Practice.  Idina actually won a Tony for her portrayal of Elphaba.

Idina and Kristin in costume and out

Back to my Friday evening.  After the show, the 6 of us headed to the Beantown Pub.  Having rushed into the city to make show time, we were all famished.  We luckily snagged a large, high table in the room around the corner from the pool tables.  It ended up working out really well.  My eyes were too large for my stomach when I ordered the Mother Goose, or essentially a steak tip hoagie with peppers and onions. 

Ethan and Ash

Erin and Colby

Me and Dave

It seemed like the rest of the crew were in food comas too.  A little after midnight, we decided to call it a night.  I had the pleasure of being DD and I happily carted my cargo home to Salem.  Getting home around 1am wasn’t too bad.  All I had to do in the morning was pack for a mere trip to Sydney :)