My "Wicked" Experience

I'm pretty sure you have noticed a lot of advertising for "Wicked," the blockbuster movie that recently came out.  It's probably a little too much for you, it may remind you of when the big "Avengers: Endgame"  movie came out in 2019.  That was the Avengers that started with "Iron Man" and Robert Downey Jr.  The lead in to "Wicked" was that children's fantasy that L. Frank Baum wrote in 1900 and became a movie in 1939, just "The Wizard of Oz."

My wife and I had an unusual experience seeing "Wicked." Our oldest daughter has been singing songs from "Wicked" (the musical) for twenty years.  It appeared on Broadway in 2003 and made a billion dollars in revenue since then.  Unfortunately, the movie we saw did not go smoothly.  The picture on the screen was not great, the sound was not perfect and the small cinema had chairs that were not very comfortable.

I knew my daughter was very excited to see it, so I had some fun with her.  I was sitting next to her and I asked her if she wanted me to switch seats with my wife so she could ask her questions during the movie. That did not go over well and she said, "There should be no talking during the movie." Then, she warned us to, "Shut off our phones." We have been to a few movies in the last fifty years of cell phones.

During the movie, my wife leaned over to me to tell me who two of the women were and our daughter shushed us and hit me in the arm.  We had trouble controlling our laughter.  Suddenly, an ape who looked like he was the ape from "Planet of the Apes" appeared on the screen and before I could say something, my wife said, "Planet of the Apes" and I almost lost it.

I felt a lot of pressure during the movie and I didn't want to get hit again.  I had one last close call when this large face of "The Wizard of Oz" appeared on the screen.  I thought it looked like Ronald Reagan, but I didn't want to say anything.

The plot was outstanding and the music was good also.  I didn't expect to be laughing so much during the movie.  I'm hoping my daughter will sit next to me for the second part of "Wicked" which comes out about a year from now.  I'll be ready not to laugh then.