Wicked and Truly Evil

WICKED!!! We saw it in London and immediately we wanted to see it again. It is such a great musical...very family friendly, fun, engaging, uplifting, and inspiring. Last August, I happened to see that it was coming to Tucson, so I convinced Kelli and my mom (it wasn't very hard!) to buy season tickets to Broadway in Tucson so we would be SURE to have tickets to this AWESOME musical! We also saw Beauty and the Beast last Thanksgiving weekend. We missed the first musical though (The Color Purple), because we were either sick or didn't really want to go. We'll see Burn the Floor in April. Not sure what that is, but I'm excited.

But back to WICKED! Our tickets were for January 8 at 2PM. So we left Sierra Vista at 11:45 and headed to University of Arizona's Centennial Hall. We made good time and arrived at the parking garage about an hour before the show was about to start. That is when we got the first text message.

From my sister, Jessica:

"Hey Erin, Congresswoman Giffords was just shot here in Tucson about an hour ago. I don't know how this will affect your plans. Plan for traffic."

I read that and my jaw dropped open. I read it to Kelli and my mom and we were shocked to the core. Then Jesse wrote again.

"It was in NW Tucson. She was shot in the head, but it's unclear whether she died or survived. Others were shot too."

Wow! Jessica sent us texts as she found out more information from the Internet. I also wrote my friend Danny to find out more information. He told us Congresswoman Giffords was in surgery at University Medical Center. And that the nut job was out to kill. He said the news was very confusing. No one knew what was going on, but they did catch the guy who shot her.

It didn't seem like a lot of people at the theater knew what had happened. People around us were talking about this and that, but not about the shooting. Then doors opened and we were able to find our seats. I got a little more information from Danny, but not a lot. Still, there were very few people in the theater who seemed to be talking about the event.

While we waited for the show to begin, we took a picture of ourselves in our seats.



Then the orchestra started and the lights dimmed. The show must go on!

And what a show to see during such a confusing and sad time! Like I said before, it is a really uplifting and engaging show, so I could really transport myself to Oz and be there instead of in Tucson. I was right with Elphaba and Galinda as they attended Dear Old Shiz and as they transitioned from loathing each other to helping each other to becoming best friends. I sang along with Galinda as she taught Elphaba how to be popular, with Elphaba as she defied gravity, with both Glinda and Elphaba as they realized that knowing each other has changed each one for good.

Of course, there was the intermission where we had to come back to reality. And it seemed everyone around us knew about the shooting now. We sat and listened as one group of people said CNN reported Gabby Giffords died, but they had to retract the story. Other groups talked about how the shooting happened at an event at a Safeway. I texted Danny again to see if he knew anything new. He said a 9-year old girl had died. She was the first death we knew about. Later we found out five others had died at the scene. She was the sixth death. Danny also said that Gabby came out of surgery and she was showing signs of progress. The doctors are hopeful, but of course since she was shot in the head, they have to monitor brain swelling. Yikes!

We were able to have one more reprieve from reality by watching Act II. I have to say the actors in this performance were better than the actors in London. Their voices were clearer and their annunciation were much better (but that may be because of the UK accents. Haha!). And we had the backup Elphaba perform for our matinee show. But she was just as good as the original Broadway star! Awesome, awesome voice!! So good!! It gives me chills just thinking about it now!! I was a little worried when Glinda came out in her bubble in the opening scene and sang her high notes off pitch, but she recovered and sang very well the rest of the play. I can't give enough good compliments about this play and it's actors! Brilliant!

I am glad we saw this play again. It is just unfortunate it happened to be at the same time as the truly evil event that happened in Tucson. But I would jump at the chance to see this play again. Anytime, anywhere!