The first time we saw the show, I was already a groupie.  I had read the book, memorized the soundtrack, and knew all about Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (the Broadway stars who originated the characters; both were subsequently nominated for a Tony award; Idina won it).  Seeing the show was even more breathtaking than I could have imagined or possibly describe.  We saw it in Chicago in February 2008.  We both were speechless throughout the entire show and still at the end.


That show solidified my nerdy Wicked groupiness.  


The next night Kevin proposed.  (I’d like to say it was because he wanted me to be his Elphie, but I think he had it planned prior to the show.)


Now we’re married and when we found out it was coming to Des Moines, of course we had to go see it again.  In the weeks leading up to it, I rehearsed the soundtrack all over again (as if I didn’t know it word for word already–fabulous soundtrack, by the way!), listened to Idina’s album, I Stand, and Kristin’s album, Let Yourself Go, and even read Kristin’s book A Little Bit Wicked.  Yes, I admit, I kind of have girl crushes on those two.  Can you help it when they just knock the socks off of you?  I would give almost anything to go back in time to 2003, fly to New York, and watch them perform Wicked.  They have trained all the new Glinda’s and Elphaba’s well though…


Anyway, so I’ll stop slobbering over those two…


I was leery about the show last night because in Chicago, it was a permanent show in the Oriental Theatre and by it’s last performance there in January 2009, it had 1,500 performances under it’s belt in that theatre alone.  Take all that into consideration then when I tell you that the Oriental Theatre is one of those old theatres that just demands respect from the moment you step inside.  The red velvet seats, the plush carpeting, the ornate chandeliers; the entire theatre molded right into the stage.  It was spectacular.  So I wasn’t sure how it was going to translate in Des Moines as a show without that theatre.

Secondly, when we got there last night, I saw that one of the understudies was going to be playing Glinda and that just made me angry.  I will never get to see Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda and now I can’t even see the headliner girl playing Glinda?  Come on.  So I had high doubts about the understudy being able to pull it off.


Surprise, surprise.  She did.  


In fact, I was so moved that in the eleventh hour song*, For Good, I couldn’t help but cry…and cry…  The entire song I sat there just crying.  Tears dripping from my chin, snot running onto my lips.  Yeah, it was gross, but so emotional.  I felt utterly spent by the time that 5 minutes and 10 seconds were over.


So I guess you could say that the show was fantastic, phenomenal, spectacular, etc., etc.  I would also like to say that at my funeral, someday, one day, I would like to have Idina & Kristin personally sing For Good.  Possibly I will outlive them so if I do, I will be okay with their recorded version.


I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return.  Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true, but I know I’m who I am today because I knew you…

Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun, like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood, who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?  But because I knew you I have been changed for good.


It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime so let me say before we part so much of me is made of what I learned from you.  You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart and now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine by being my friend…

Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea, like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood, who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? But because I knew you, because I knew you…


Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.


It is my deepest desire and prayer that people will say that because they knew me, they’ve been changed for good.  This is my theme song.


*Back in the day, this was usually the 2nd to last song because shows started at 8 PM and so it was usually around 11 PM when they were singing the nearly final song.