What I Thought

It started with a car-packed picnic of strawberries, cheese, crackers, my favorite hummus, and time to talk and enjoy each other’s company on a very long drive.

We first visited one of our favorite stores in San Francisco, Bell’occhio’s. This tiny little shoppe always gets my creative juices flowing. While we were there we purchased this romantic little booklet titled, The Kiss.

The next stop: dinner!

Look at this amazing food.

The staff was kind and courteous and made the whole experience a meal to remember.


We then headed off for the Orpheum Theater. I was bubbling with anticipation. I love the Orpheum Theater. It is a beautiful historic building and a must see landmark in San Francisco.

The only photos allowed were of the lobby. If you want a peek inside this beautiful theater visit this link. The carved wood ceiling was unreal.

Now for the part you have been waiting for. What did I think of Wicked?

It was full of energy and the theme was one that tugs at the heart. Almost everyone was weeping around me by the end of the play and that included some of the men. The actress who played Glinda was hysterical. The actress who played Elphaba did a marvelous job of singing. She stayed in control of her voice and never showboated as some performers tend to do today. I have to confess that was my greatest fear. I was afraid the actress performing Elphaba would be a diva and this would ruin the musical for me. I wasn’t disappointed though. She played Elphaba beautifully, with an honest passion in her voice, and she never forced herself to betray the character by over-singing her part to impress the audience. Her voice was clear and sweet, even during her most demanding vocal sections. I really dislike when a performer abuses her voice to impress. This is why I can’t watch American Idol. I cringe through most of the performances on Idol and the judges are too cruel, but I digress . . .

Elphaba was just plain old wonderful to listen to.

Another major standout for me was the set . . . WOWZA!! . . . Love . . . Love . . . Love. The costumes were outrageous, the scenery imaginative, and the lighting was some of the very best I’ve seen in a musical.

My overall impression . . .

I LOVED IT!!

I give this musical production of Wicked two very big thumbs up! If you are visiting SF any time soon, you might want to put this on your To Do list. You won’t be disappointed.