Wicked

Robert and I saw Wicked last night at the Orpheum - it's the first show in the SHN series we bought ourselves for Christmas/birthdays/Valentine's Day... and beyond. :o) It's almost too bad that Wicked is the first show out of the gate because it's the one I was most excited to see. And, I have to say, it did not disappoint!! I was a little worried going in that I wouldn't understand the plot - what I'd read on Wikipedia sounded awfully convoluted - but I absolutely did and I loved the show. The sets are awesome and the woman in the role of Elphaba (Teal Wicks) has an amazing voice. She was fantastic!!! If you have a chance to see it while it's in SF you should definitely go!

Spring Awakening

Why is it that on the rare occasion Robert and I actually have more than 1 event to attend they inevitably fall in the same week? We rarely go to concerts or plays so, of course, the two concerts and one play we had tickets to all fell within this past week! As you know, we had Nada Surf on Tuesday, NIN on Friday and Saturday night we went to a preview showing of Spring Awakening at the Curran Theater. I didn't know much about the play before buying the tickets, but I got the e-mail from SHN and the preview weekend tickets were a fair bit cheaper than the standard tickets so I thought "Why not?" Robert and I hadn't been to a play in ages - I think the last one we saw was Les Miz in Chicago a couple years ago - and Spring Awakening won the 2007 Tony for Best Musical so I thought it would be fun to go. And once I got over wanting to punch Robert in the nose, it was!

I am always, always late to things and Robert always wants to arrive at an event the day before, if possible. So we often bash heads as far as punctuality goes when we have a function to attend. I've told him over and over again to just lie to me; if he wants to leave at 6:45, he needs to tell me we're leaving at 6:30. It's simple math. But, of course, Robert never does and then he winds up puffing up like a toad and driving like a bat out of hell to get us where we're going. He doesn't talk, he doesn't laugh, he barely blinks and he needs the radio at a consistently low level so as not to distract him from his race car maneuvers.

I, of course, am an adult woman who should know how to get ready and be places on time so I am at fault here, too... somewhat. A little. :o) I understand this. But Robert forcing me to run at full speed and forgo using the restroom is not going to turn back time!! (In truth, he didn't make me "run" - I just had to walk very, very, very, very fast. And he didn't force me to skip using the ladies' room, though I have a sneaking suspicion my taking 5 minutes to go there would've drawn a look of consternation. I decided against it myself.) We exchanged a few words before the show started but eventually our tempers subsided and we were able to enjoy the show.

And enjoy the show we did. The music was great; Robert even liked it because it wasn't "Broadway-ish. It was more rock 'n roll." I don't want to give anything away in case anyone doesn't want to know what the plot entails BUT... the play deals with, ahem, adult themes which didn't bother me, of course. That is until I got home and read that the kids are supposed to be 14. Fourteen?!!! (And the girl is supposed to have been 13 at the start of the play.) Are you kidding me?! That creeped me out a bit. I'd assumed they were all at least 16 and I think I'm going to try and ignore what I read and keep thinking of them as 16-year-olds. No 14-year-old should do what they did in the play... bleh!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel old.*

That being said, the show itself was still very good and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves to see live musicals. If you're interested, here's a little behind-the-scenes clip with the touring company:

*I really felt old when I looked at the Playbill and saw that the lead chick just graduated from high school!!! Gah! Everyone in the cast is 20, 22, 24... I think the oldest guy (who wasn't one of the "adult" characters) is 27. Great googlymoogly. :o(