Show



So the show tonight was Wicked, which is the backstory to The Wizard of Oz, and could be called How the Witch of the West Got to Be Wicked. It won several Tony Awards, and is also a very popular show, and it's at the Gershwin, one of the modern Broadway theatres which seats a huge number of people. It was packed, and we sat in the gods just in front of a row of groupies. (Apparently the show is like a Broadway Rocky Horror Picture Show — it has a following of fans who get cheap tickets and go just to sing along.)

It was a lot of fun. Sure, the story could've been a little tighter, but that didn't obscure the great performances by Idina Menzel, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Carole Shelley. And it was very interesting to see the story of Oz from the inside out, rather than through the eyes of Dorothy, who was just dropping in. By the end you're really rooting for the Wicked Witches of the West and East.

After the show we went to eat at the Trattoria Tricolori, an Italian restaurant that had caught my eye when I saw it pop up in Playbill. (Not that Philip knew that when he booked it — but then we all know about Philip's extra-sensory powers.) Now you know I'm a fan of Italian food, but it was one of the best meals yet, and the interior and the waiters and the atmosphere made both Philip and me think of the movie Big Night. (I also sat facing the swinging doors to the kitchen, which had a different effect on me — made me think of the Sesame Street sketches that have the grumpy business-puppet and Grover as the waiter. Some of the waiters were as eager as Grover, though not nearly as clumsy or indifferent.)

Posted: Tue - October 5, 2004 at 11:56 PM        

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