Delicious and Wicked

I was lucky enough last night to have a fantastically delicious dinner and then see the fab musical, "Wicked". I was joined by my friend Alysia who apparently had as busy a day as I did. We were both feeling stressed but all that washed away when we drank fabulous margaritas at Mez, a contemporary Mexican restaurant in Durham. I had the fish tacos and they were simply perfection. Please go to Mez and eat them. You will love me forever. Seriously. They are that good.

After filling our bellies with yummy goodness, we made our way to the DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center). After being redirected by several parking and traffic control peeps, we found ourselves at the entrance to the VIP parking lot. The lot is right in front of the theater. And it was $8 to park. We both laughed. A pointed out that this same lot would be $20 in St. Louis. And we both joked that there is no lot like this in NYC. God only knows what you would pay. I guess in my experience, you pay for good shoes so you can walk you butt back to Grand Central to take the Metro North. LOL.

Thanks to A's hubby's company, we were able to purchase tickets in advance and got awesome seats. We sat left orchestra, row F. It was 6 rows from the stage. Awesome view!! The set was fantastic although I felt a little sad for those that didn't read the novel. You wouldn't know the meaning of the dragon, the clock or the map of Oz. It wasn't made clear. The show itself had a lot of holes but was seriously entertaining none the less.

I guess I should take the time to point out what some of you already know. I was not a huge fan of the novel. I loved the basic premise and enjoyed the story, but not the actual way it was written. I felt confused at times and was pretty annoyed with it overall. But I love "The Wizard of Oz". I mean really, who doesn't? As a kid, the Witch of the West aka Elphaba scared the crap out of me. But I loved to watch her anyway. I thought her flying monkeys were cool and I always felt bad that her sister died. Having two sisters myself, I could relate to her anger and wanting her sister's shoes to remember her. Wouldn't any of us want the same?

Kudos to a wonderful cast and awesome crew. The sets were amazing. And the music was catchy and fun. My sister had burned me a copy of the soundtrack so I could prepare myself for the event. I still say my favorite song is "Defying Gravity".

I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!

That scene between Glinda and Elphaba gave me goosebumps.

Go see the show if you can. It was fantastico!!