Nearest and Dearest: Wicked!!

My love for plays and musicals come from my mother who used to take me all the time to the Civic Little Theatre at home in Pennsylvania from the time I was a little girl. I can sing all the words to Fiddler on the Roof, have cried my way through Steel Magnolias and even know what the Rockette's look like doing their high kicks in the annual Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show.

I did not however, marry a man who loves plays or musicals. Nor does he really feel the need to go with me. Don't get me wrong. He would if I insisted but it wouldn't be his first choice of things to do. I don't get mad because I hate sporting events and he doesn't make me go to those.

I remember when I first had Abby that I thought, "Finally, someone to go to the theatre with me." Never mind that it would be quite a few years before that would happen. We have done little things over the past few years. Several trips to Disney on Ice shows, a children's theatre production on High School Musical and even the Nutcracker this past Christmas. But never a "real" musical until now. And it was well worth the wait.

Through Girl Scouts we were able to get tickets to see Wicked at the Fox Theatre, one of my favorite places in Atlanta. Abby and Maddie went with me. Wicked is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The story is told from the viewpoint of the witches of OZ, Elphaba, the poor misunderstood green girl and Galinda, later named Glenda, the beautiful ambitious and popular blond.

Getting into the city on a busy Sunday afternoon is an adventure in and of itself but we made it, found parking and made our way quickly to the beautiful old theatre. Imagine my surprise when I found that our seats were not on the balcony but actually on the floor and in row O. Fantastic seats that would allow the girls to see the very expressions on the actor and actresses faces.

As the curtain rose and the musical began I found myself watching the girls faces as much as I was watching the stage. I saw them fall in love with the magic of the theatre much as I had at their age when my mom took me. I am looking forward to many more years of theatre with them.

Our date was capped off by heavy snacks and dessert at the Melting Pot. The girls agreed that we had to do this again.