Wicked

Today I saw a matinee performance of Wicked with my mother.

The sets and production value were amazing. It was visually stunning and absorbing, fun and complex.

I am embarrassed to say that a number of years ago I actually read the book, so I was familiar with this "prequel" to the Wizard of Oz that chronicles the back story about the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

The book was much more detailed and complicated, while the musical drew out the relationship between the two witches.

They did a very, very good job developing this relationship, and it's unusual for a mainstream musical to focus on a relationship between two women. I was very moved at the end, quite choked up in spite of myself.

The music, however, was bland. Nothing really stuck in my head or transported me in any way.