Wicked Birthday

Wednesday was my birthday, I took Abby to San Francisco to see Wicked - the Musical.  It was quite a show.  I would say it was probably the most entertaining one I've seen, even though I have been to only four other musical performances.  It was a very satisfying evening.

We took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to San Francisco so that we wouldn't need to worry about the parking.  Even though it took twice as long to get there, but we got to really chat and play a bit on the way.  The station exit was right in front of the theatre, very convenient.

There were quite a few kids, I'd say about 10% of the audiences were children.  Abby was the only one wore a blue check dress and two pig tails.  Even though not quite the same as what Dorothy wore, but close enough.  She even wore her sparkling shoes.

On the way back, Abby said, "dad, thank you for taking me to the show.  Wicked was awesome!"  Believe or not, this is the first time ever she thanks me for taking her to any performance and no need to remind her to appreciate it.  I guess she was really entertained.

I am in the middle of the book and I enjoy it a lot.  The musical is quite different from the book in many details.  I am not a fan of the happy ending (sort of) in the end of the musical, which I know is different from the novel.  Other than that, I had a blast.  Teal Wicks (what a last name) did a great job as Elphaba, and Kendra Kassebaum was just hilarious as Galinda.  Teal has such a strong and powerful voice, which carries the show beautifully.  Kendra's voice has an interesting "perk" that suits the character quite well too.  In my opinion, Kendra has a similar style, and look, as Goldie Hawn.  She puts a natural and funny goofiness on the Galinda character that stands her out from other Galinda actresses.  It was a good story but a bit confusing to kids, I guess.  Abby asked a lot of questions for the things that are "different" from what the Wizard of Oz described.  I think that's great because she doesn't just believe everything in the book anymore and start to use her brain.  :)

I had a good time and am officially one year older now...