Wicked - The Book and the Musical

So even though I am not one of those kids who really, really likes musicals (you know, the ones who know all the words to every current popular musical), I do enjoy a good show. I have seen a few in New York that are just plain awesome and I enjoy movie musicals like Chicago and Phantom. So when Jeff's parents asked if we would like to go see Wicked in Nashville, I was really excited (Jeff - not so much). To prepare for the show, I decided to read the book the musical is based on.

This book was really interesting. The author, Gregory Maguire, reveals the true story of the Wicked Witch of the West and shows that as usual, things are not always what they seem. Maguire gives the "witch" a past and a name, Elphaba. The reader also gets the back story of Glinda the Good Witch, a one-time friend of Elphaba's. Some parts were a little vulgar for me and, I thought, unnecessary. However, they were not so bad that I was not able to look passed them. In fact, the book left me wanting to read the second book in the series, Son of a Witch, which, you guessed it, tells the story of Liir, the son of the "Wicked Witch." He also has a third installment which tells the story of the Cowardly Lion. But first, I may take a break from Oz and read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

After finishing the book, I looked online to read a little more about the muscial and discovered that the two were very, very different. I did not want to be disappointed in the show, so I decided I had to go in with no expectations and promised myself that I would not spend the whole time comparing the show to the book. And I have to say, I was not at all disappointed. I enjoyed the musical just as much if not more than I enjoyed reading the book. The muscial was much more funny, happy, and upbeat - three things that the book is not. If the musical had been done like the book, it would probably come across as long, boring, and depressing. The writers of the musical did an awesome job. The actors were also amazing and the two leads had AMAZING voices. I would definitely recommend that anyone who had the chance to see the show definitely take it!

The whole night was awesome. We went to Nashville early and ate at an Italian place called Maggiano's. The food was served family style and tasted great! It was so rich, I could hardly eat more than a few bites of one thing! So thank you Mel and Paula for a great night out! And also, thanks to my husband, Jeff, who is not a musical fan and who missed the first night of college football season without too much complaining. Thank the Lord for DVR!