Wicked: Wow

Karen treated me royally today. Lunch in Millennium Park and tickets for Wicked make for one very fine Saturday in Chicago. Add to that conversation with a friend one has not seen in person for over a year, and that is a fabulous Saturday in Chicago.
I had read reviews of the musical, but had no idea how stupendous it actually was. The story line is satisfying in itself, but there was an unexpected depth to it. (No wonder Karen has seen it five times!) And the music was wonderful. (In 2005, our "nun choir" had the privilege of working with the composer/songwriter, Steven Schwarz, when we recorded some vocals he wrote for the movie "Noel." We keep hoping he'll do more "holy" music and think of us again!) Usually, I don't know right away if I really liked a production or not; things take time to percolate. This got five stars from me before the first hour was up.
And the story of "good and evil" was so suited for today, Mary's Nativity Day. Because in Wicked, the one who was good wasn't so very good through and through--at least not until she had been through a kind of spiritual journey. And the one called "Wicked"? Well, I don't want to give away the story! Let's just say with the Irish, "There's so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us!"