It's 'Wicked' baby!

A co-worker called me the jet-setter today. I guess you could call me that … Kates and I get back from vacation on Sunday. I take Monday off. Tuesday I’m back at work, but you think my vacation is over? Ha! …On Tuesday night we were in Chicago for a Second City performance, tonight we were back in Chicago, down in the splendor and ornate architecture of the Oriental Theater to see ‘Wicked.’ And tomorrow night we’ll be at yet another Brewers game…

I love it.

If you’re not familiar, ‘Wicked’ is like the prequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ although this musical is told from the side of the witches. The audience follows, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Who knew she had a real name?!) from the birth of her emerald green body to youth, during which she attends a Hogworts-like institution with her sister -- Nessarose, later known as the Wicked Witch of the East -- where she meets and becomes friends with none other than Glinda (the Good Witch who changes her name from ‘GA-linda’ because nobody can pronounce it correctly).

You can imagine the rest. The two best friends quarrel over the golden boy on campus and the popular and pretty Glinda wins him over -- all this as Elphaba also tries to save the animals from having their voices erased (Now you know where the cowardly lion and the flying monkeys came from). … But where the second act starts with Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, the show is cleverly drawn out so the audience never actually sees Dorothy. Instead many ‘Wicked’ scenes start or end where Dorothy was leaving or entering ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ including a scene that begins with Glinda standing at the edge of the yellow brick road, waving and shouting something like ‘Byyyyyyy-eeeeee! Yep, just follow that yellow sidewalk aaaaaalllllll the waaaaaaaayyyyy!’ She then turns toward the crowd and mutters, ‘Gee, I hope they find it. I’m not very good with directions.’ … The show also takes various lines from “The Wizard of Oz” for some good comic relief. (Nessarose: “What are you doing here!” … Elphaba: “There’s no place like home.”)

Soon enough we see the demise of the Wicked Witch and follow her to her death. (but does she die?)

Currently starring in the Chicago version is former Saturday Night Live star Ana Gasteyer. She was great, as could be expected. But Kate Reinders, who starred as Glinda, stole the show, playing her role as a bombshell, but far out blonde, resembling Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde or Kristin Chenoweth, the ‘West Wing’ star who played Glinda in previous ’Wicked’ shows.

The music is pretty good. The scenery is amazing (heck, there’s a giant, mechanical flying monkey hanging over the first 10 rows of seats!. And it’s a Broadway show! …Overall: B+

SEE ALSO: another great review here

ADDED DEC. 19, 2005: From the Washington Post -- Season of The Witch: 'Wicked' Casts Quite a Spell

Making my home town proud

Not my hallowed high school alma mater, but I'll bet Ooooooooooo-lathe! was abuzz about this one!

... And talk about a punishment.

Teen vomits on teacher, told to clean police cars

Vacation 2005!

Weeeeeeeeeeee'rrrrree Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

In perhaps one of the most spontaneous moves kates and I have pulled, we left on our road trip to Ohio one day early, deciding at about 1:30 p.m. last Tuesday that we should go camping for a couple nights before getting to Ohio on Thursday ... we had contemplated going to the zoo, but backed off because of the afternoon heat. Then Kates brought up an earlier notion of going camping. I made a quick call out to Indiana Dunes, they said we had a good chance at getting a site that night, I looked at Kates and said 'you go shopping, I'll pack the car, we can be out of here by 4:30' ... and that's exactly what we did!

We made the trek through downtown Chicago's rush-hour traffic, zipped over the Indiana (AKA: the armpit of America) border and pulled into Indiana Dunes State Park a little after 7 p.m.

I'll give you the rest in pictures ...

We were up at 6 AM on Wednesday (not by design!), ate a quick breakfast and took a hike! Imagine the Rocky Mountains covered in sand and you have Indiana Dunes.

... And the trail leads to Lake Michigan. MUCH better than the ocean, if you ask me.

... Another view of the Dunes.

We barely got in our dinner before some good thunderstorms rolled in, canceled our campfire and forced us into our tent for the evening. We survived though, packed up Thursday morning and were on the road by mid-morning.

We arrived in good 'ol Toledo late Thursday afternoon and were in Detroit a couple hours later for the Tigers-Twins game.

My stadium review: LOTS to look at! A fantastic fan experience that features a carousel and food court behind home plate, wonderful statues in left field and kiosks with Tigers history throughout the stadium ... but the food and souvenirs are pretty dang expensive compared to other stadiums I've visited ...

... We spent Friday at the Toledo Zoo. If you see one zoo, you've seen 'em all ... until you've seen this hippo!

... On Saturday, we were in Cleveland. Saw the outside of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame (didn't have enough time to go in ...) and spent some time on the Lake Erie harbor before heading over to Jacobs Field for the Indians-Mariners game! A dream come true.

From the day it opened in '94 and through watching those great Indians teams of the '90s, I had long wanted to visit this stadium. It was everything I had seen in pictures and imagined. Yet, sadly, compared to the standards of Comerica, this stadium already seemed dated ... On the other hand, the food and souvenirs weren't nearly as pricy. Plus it was cap day!

After thaaaaaaaaaaat...

We loaded up the car Sunday morning in the Toledo rain and drove through monsoons to reach the Indiana border (AKA: the armpit of America), made a couple stops for food and gas, battled traffic in downtown Chicago and arrived at our doorstep about seven hours later ...

... and already planning for vacation 2006!

Dinner & A Movie!

Happy Birthday Kates!

... and let the vacation begin! After a weekend at the family farm, we were down at Wrigley yesterday (Cubs win!) and today spent a relaxing day at home while she had a union meeting (ouch!).

Ah, but the night would be better. After the gift giving (some flowers, a copy of the new Harry Potter book and a 'Friends' DVD) we went out to dinner at The Olive Garden.

...and THEN, a night at the Drive-in. Nothing like it. Tonight's showings were 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' and 'War of the Worlds.'

Now, 'War of the Worlds' I saw last week, and didn't mind seeing it again, for whatever it was worth. But 'Charlie' was something I couldn't wait for any longer. I haven't seen the original, nor do I really care to. Every clip I've ever seen of it kinda creeps me out, period. ... It was only paying attention to and reading all the buzz about the new 'Charlie' that I even began to learn about the plot and the fact there's a classic book behind it. Beyond that, it's a Tim Burton film and in the true spirit of Burton, I can't see why you wouldn't be at all attracted to the vibrancy and film magic this release pledges.

... and it delivered, for the most part. I'll admit it did drag at times, but I laughed hysterically at some parts (especially when the 'Welcome' show explodes in front of the candy winners and Willy Wonka) and the film had some groovy (seriously, I thought it was good stuff!) music to pull it along. And the acting -- even the kids -- wasn't bad. All in all, a worthy flick.