And Goodness knows the Wicked's lives are lonely. Goodness knows the Wicked die alone.

It's been awhile. Goodness, I've been busy. However, my classroom is just about ready, and lesson plans are on their way. Yay, teaching! I put a couch in my room, so that makes me the laid-back hippie rebel teacher. (Desks harsh my mellow, man.)
My darling husband took me to see Wicked last night, and it was a delightful date as well as a delightful show. If you didn't know, the story focuses on the younger days of Glinda and Elphaba as they attend college together, and it puts a new spin on the Wizard of Oz story. People you thought were good are actually bad and vice versa. Story-wise, it was only okay. (But the story isn’t the reason people go see shows now, is it?) It was clever in a few spots, but I thought the ending could've been much more poignant, and some of the timing of events just didn't really fit. Also, the first act is much better than the second. The Act One finale is just crazy-good, and the story is still really consistent, so you leave for intermission thinking that this is the best show you've ever seen. But then Act Two drags, since there are about a million ballads, and the story starts to fall apart, and the ending is somewhat anticlimactic. The amazing performances and the spectacle are what really carried the show. The sets/lights/costumes were just beautiful to look at. I don't know if I've seen a musical that is more visually stunning than this one. Ana Gastyer from SNL played Elphaba (the green witch) and DANG can she sing! The part was just perfect for her, and she pulled off the dramatic parts just as well as she did the comic portions. I think she's going to be just huge on Broadway in the future. Glinda was really cute too. I think she got a great deal of her mannerisms and inflections from Kristin Chenowith (the Broadway Glinda) but that was okay by me, since Kristin is AWESOME!! Overall a fun show. I give it two stars for story, four stars for performance, 4 stars for visuals, and three stars for the show as a whole. I think I might go see it again with my mom.
Question for everyone... I was stung by a hornet yesterday, and it prompted me to ponder- Were hornets around before the Fall, or are they the minions of Satan himself, created and unleashed upon humanity by demons? And if they were around before the fall, did they have stingers?
Guess what? The hornet sting contains 5% acetylcholine which stimulates pain fibers more than the stings of other stinging insects. Good to know. My foot hurts.
Currently playing: "I'll Fly Away"- Randy Travis' version