Merrylandgirl has a "Wicked" memory

I recently obtained (by accident) a new CD of the "Wicked" soundtrack. I've had the soundtrack for a while, but the CD became scratched up and I could no longer enjoy listening to it. Hearing the songs in my car today reminded me of my first experiences with this musical.

My first encounter with "Wicked" was when my friend sent me the soundtrack in February, 2004. I started listening to it and couldn't get enough. By the weekend of my wedding in March, I had memorized most of the soundtrack. Over the summer, I saw the Tony awards and Idina and Kristin performed "Defying Gravity." At the time, I resented "Avenue Q" for taking away the Best Musical win from "Wicked." (I did give the show a chance years later and am glad I let down my grudge.)

Later that year (around this same weekend), my sister and I went to NY for a weekend getaway and to visit some of our close friends living there. We got tickets to see "Wicked," even though we got obstructed view seats to save money. It wasn't too bad, we just couldn't see some of the scenery. As Murphy's Law would have it, we did not get to see Idina perform. However, her understudy was wonderful. (I can only imagine the pressure of being an understudy for Idina Menzel!) We weren't expecting to see Kristin, so that wasn't a disappointment. The coolest was getting to see Joey McIntryre as Fiyero. We were NKOTB fans back in the late 80's and he was definitely my favorite. After the show (which was amazing), we got his autograph and took a picture with him. My sister told him how we saw him in a New Kids concert and he was embarrassed about it. (Apparently not embarrassed enough to do a reunion tour with them!) Anyway, there was a lot going on in the show that didn't fall into place just from listening to the soundtrack. It was cool to be surprised in such a way and to see things come together in the story.

We saw "Wicked" again in Chicago when a touring cast performed. We could see the scenery this time but we were further back. I think seeing it on Broadway created a major bias for me because I couldn't enjoy it as much with a touring cast. I wasn't impressed with Fiyero at all and thought Elphaba was decent but didn't even hold a candle to Idina's understudy. Carol Kane ("I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!") was Madame Morrible and she did pretty well with the role. I'm glad my husband enjoyed the story and music though. He listened to the soundtrack with me more often after that. However, he didn't like "Dancing Through Life" and I didn't (and still don't) like "Wonderful." We'd do a trade-off so we both got to listen to the songs we wanted without the other complaining. :)

In October of 2005, there was a singing contest at a local mall as part of a promotion for "Wicked" in Chicago. My husband was home with our one month-old son and I got to go to the mall to return a few gifts and check out this contest. I decided to enter and my number got picked. I chose to sing "Popular." Probably not a good choice for me as I have more of an Elphaba voice than a Glinda voice. I wasn't expecting to win anyway. I met this one girl there who was really nice and I was glad she got to advance forward in the competition. It was still a fun experience nonetheless. I enjoyed just being around other "Wicked" fans.

I haven't really been as involved with "Wicked" since that time, especially due to my many changing Broadway show tastes. However, I still love singing along with the soundtrack and still know all the words. I don't mind getting the songs in my head and I hope to one day meet Idina, as she is an incredible performer. And I still think everyone should see "Wicked" at least once in their lives.