This past week has
brought a tremendous amount of ‘firsts’ into my life - my first flight into the
States (turns out the Minneapolis airport has an abundance of giant, fake
moose); first time in New York (lights! Loads of people! Death-defying cabbies!); first
coffee trade show (hundreds of people who love coffee in one place = awesome);
and a host of other smaller firsts that blurred into one sensuous experience
crammed into a short four days...
But the first that
stands out the most to me was seeing my first Broadway musical. And, oh, it was
a doozy - the marvelous ‘Wicked’.
We almost didn’t see
it - my co-worker and I tried for tickets on Saturday, but only premium
(*cough*expensive*cough*) tickets remained. Truth be told, we weren’t sure it
was worth it, so we passed on them. But Sunday rolled around, and we admitted
that we both badly wanted to see the show, especially since it was our last
night in the city. So I called Ticketmaster - and they were sold out. My heart
sank. My co-worker saw my face and her expression dropped. I asked the
extremely sweet agent to check one more time. She did - and two tickets popped
up on her screen. She was stunned, seeing as she was sure there had been nothing
a moment before. I took it as a sign, and told her to snag those tickets for us
immediately.
We made it to the
theatre just in time (the cabby had no idea where it was, so we had to er, hop
out and find our own way). Now, I will admit I was still a little hesitant at
this point - I’m not a huge fan of musicals on screen, and well, I’d never been
to a professional play, so I didn’t quite know what to expect...
The lights dimmed, the
curtain rose and the swell of music and voices celebrating the death of the
Wicked Witch metaphorically grabbed us by the shirts and dragged us willingly
into the world of Oz. Willemijn Verkaik gave a breathtaking performance as the
green witch, Elphaba, while Alli Mauzey was the perfect counterpoint as Glinda
the Good. By the end of the show I was quietly sobbing in my seat, simply
tingling from the experience.
I had many ‘aha’
moments while watching Wicked - creativity of any sort tends to kick-start,
reinforce and revitalize any other creative energy it touches - but the most
critical realization came in response to a long held fear of mine. At the start
of the play I had wondered somberly if the actors ever became sick of repeating
their parts, night after night - if what they loved ever became a ‘job’,
something they felt they had to do in order to survive. But Willemijn and Alli were so
full of passion, their performances so earnest and commanding, there was no doubt
they were enjoying themselves. Even more powerful is the fact that Willemijn
has performed the roll of Elphaba over 1000 times, in three different languages.
When we’re told to ‘do what you love’, it can be
easy to scoff or fall into polite silence punctuated with a knowing, ‘yeah
right’ look. After all, it sometimes feels like our dreams are out of reach -
right behind those bills we need to pay, and the ‘reality’ of everyday life. To
actually see someone doing what they
love for a living, though, is an exceptional, life-shifting experience. One I wish for everyone
reading this post.
~*~ Today’s post was
inspired by Bridget Zinn. Bridget’s debut novel, Poison, was released this week
by Hyperion. Unfortunately, Bridget died from cancer in May 2011, at the age of
33. Being published was her dream. Please
visit her site to see how you can get the word out about Poison, and help show
others they can keep moving towards their dream, no matter their circumstances. ~*~
From her website:
About the novel
Sixteen-year-old
Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is
on the verge of destruction—which means she's the only one who can save it.
Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the
kingdom's future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.
But, for the
first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.
Now a fugitive
instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king's
army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she's not alone. She's armed
with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she
can't stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance
(at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal
and the army find her?
Kyra is not your
typical murderer, and she's certainly no damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable
and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients
to make teen girls swoon.
About Bridget Zinn
Bridget grew up
in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life,
Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory
surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the
"summer of love" and the two celebrated with several more weddings.
Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died.
Her last tweet was
"Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."
Bridget wanted
to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the
characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young
women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She
really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped
that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.
