E is for Elphaba

You know, when I started this blogging through the alphabet thing with my friend Marcy, from Ben and Me, I thought that a couple of letters would cause me some problems.  E was one of those letters.

Oh, how wrong I was!

E is for Elphaba!

"What?" you say.
"Who?" you question.

Well I'll tell you. But first some backstory.

Remember I told you that I had a teen who loves all things theatre?  and Broadway! and musicals!

LOVES!

Because of Riley's love for all those things I took her to see the musical Wicked a few weeks ago.  Actually because of MY love for HER.  In case this is all foreign to you, Wicked is based on The Wizard of Oz, the one story I loathe in life.  Really.

The other part of the story is that it was one of her dearest friends' birthdays on opening night, so we drove down to surprise her and all go to see Wicked.

Because I love her.  And her friend, Hannah.

Hannah and Riley

Elphaba.  The Wicked Witch of the West.  She's evil, mean, and well, wicked.
Right?

Wrong.
Not in Wicked.

Wicked tells the tale of Oz from a slightly different perspective.  Kind of the back story of the two witches- Glinda and Elphaba.  (Did you know they were friends?)

It really is a fun show.  I enjoyed it.  (once I got over that the first characters on stage were the flying monkeys.  I loathe the monkeys.)
Riley and Hannah loved it, of course.

It really is a fantastic show: the music is fun, the performers are some of the best, the costumes are stunning, and the scenery was amazing. Wicked asks you to look at things like "bad" and "good" a little differently. You will leave the theater pondering heros and villains, you will have a song or two stuck in your head for days, and you might even loathe The Wizard of Oz a little less!

I do.  Mostly!

What about you- do you have a favorite musical?  Or do you feel about Oz the way I do? ;)

Blessings,

The DRAMA Queen

Yep, I have a DRAMA Queen in my house.  And I mean that in the nicest way possible.  Riley is my girl who loves acting.  And singing.  And anything Broadway.  And dance.  And musicals.

You get the idea.

You know all those YouTube videos of people singing and acting?  I am living in one of those videos. Add her sister and brother into the mix and they can act out whole scenes from plays and movies they have seen.  Even some that they have not seen.

Most of the time it is amusing.  Sometimes not.  Just saying.

But I love that she has a passion.  Mention an actor or actress and she can spout out what they have been in, where they got started, and what their next project will be.  Give her a note and she will sing any song you ask her to.  Ask her to learn a song on the piano or guitar and she is up to the challenge.

Give her a stage and she lights up from the inside out.

Ask her the highlights of her life and I bet she will tell you they are -

   ♫ Going to NYC with her grandmother and seeing the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway

   ♫ Taking dance and musical theater classes in Virginia from a former Rockette (we love you Ms. R!)

   ♫ Having a mom who tries to indulge her obsessions by seeing every play and musical we can ;)

   ♫ Hearing the Tenors sing in person just last month

   ♫ Seeing Wicked in DC with one of her dearest friends

   ♫ Being registered for a week of drama camp at a college this summer


Get the idea?  Theater, or "Theatre" as she insists, is her joy.  It brings her joy.
And that, my friends, brings me joy.

Wanna go to a play, anyone?


Blessings,