She's not Wicked, she's just misunderstood. That's what I got from seeing Wicked this past Saturday. The musical differs greatly from Gregory McGuire's book, but according to Winnie "My So Called Life" Holzman, she wanted it be different, because the story isn't just about Elphaba the wicked witch of the west, but about Elphaba and Glinda's friendship - despite their obvious differences and passions, one's blonde and popular, the other is green and bookish.
Britney Spears was prompted to write her "Letter Of Truth" after seeing Wicked. Basically, she learned how to stand up for herself and by God, if she wants to be barefoot, pregnant and married to a greasy cad, she will be, y'all. As for myself, I find Wicked to be very inspiring, not just for young girls, but for anyone who hasn't quite yet grasped what it means to stand up for your convictions, to be independent, to be yourself without worrying about other peoples predjudices. Then again, my brain is a strange thing and I kind of festered on "...and monkeys might fly out of my butt" premise, which isn't what you might think. It's not that I thought Wicked was hooey, I just thought if monkeys did indeed fly out my ass, Elphaba, essentially an animal activist in her own right, would be there to guide the monkeys that did fly out my ass to freedom. And really, how selfish is it to keep flying monkeys in your bum, sometimes we're no different than the Wizard, selfish and controlling.
The Seattle production was brilliant, however after almost two weeks of performance's Shoshanna Bean's (Olympia native and the loverly Elphaba) voice cracked a bit and perhaps they were a bit exhausted as well. During Megan Hilty's (Bellevue native and the stunning Glinda the good) hysterical rendition of Popular, Shoshanna/Elphaba broke character slighty by not being able to control her laughter, it was a funny and honest moment that could easily be forgiven, because we laughed just as hard.
As Kermit the frog has stated, it's not easy being green and because "Elfie" was green, she scared people, they didn't want to understand her, because of their own fear of green flesh, but she is no different than you or I. That's what I love about Holzman's Wicked, we can't avoid politics and ultimately we're all good and evil when you get down to the bones of it and once we recognize that, our path in life become much clearer. Be yourself and be the best you can be, because "no wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me down".
As for the Mariner game, we won it and it was awesome, if only for the fact that out all the 8 or 9 games I went to see this summer, I had only seen one win (against the Yankee's no less) prior to yesterday. So, to end the season with a win just made my weekend all the better.
My summer has finally ended a week into autumn, my creativity renewed and boundless, my body rested, yet, exhilerated. I don't feel compelled to write a "letter of truth" as Britney did after seeing Wicked, but it has reminded me to trust the insticnts within myself and fly. So, if you see a chubby redhead in the sky, don't fear me, I'm just busy showing off my talents to potential employers, I'll try to avoid flying over Dick Cheney, but I know someone (myself included) will eventually try to shoot me down, admittedly, chubby airborne redheads can be somewhat intimidating. Fear not, my intentions are good and although I march to the beat of a differnt drummer at times, the beat is good and easy to dance to, so don't hesitate to join me "as someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly" and you might enjoy it. I do, it makes me feel um...wicked. ;)
