Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I Just Haven't Been the Same Since That House Fell on My Sister

Of the six New Year's Resolutions I made this year, I've already succeeded at one: seeing two plays this year. I've seen Jersey Boys and Wicked and I highly recommend both.

Four years ago on vacation I picked up the book Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I enjoyed the book. A couple of years later a friend of mine asked me if I'd seen the play. I didn't know there was a play. It was in Charlotte and she said it was great. I didn't get to see it and was really disappointed. Then it came back this year. I had waiting 2 years to see the play and heard from everyone I knew who'd seen it that it was amazing. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype.

We got to Oven Auditorium with about 10 minutes to spare. We found or seats which were in the lower section to the right of the stage and twenty three rows from it. There was a big monster, either a pterodactyl or a dragon with wings made of metal above the stage as part of the frame. There was a curtain with a map of the Emerald City and the surrounding region hiding the stage. A green light was shining behind the map highlighting the Emerald City. We didn't have to wait too long before the orchestra started and the ptero-dragon began to move, his eyes glowed red, steam spewed from his nostrils and his wings flapped. And we were in for three hours of excellent entertainment.

The play or the tale, starts with the villagers celebrating that the witch is dead. Glinda the good witch arrives to celebrate with them and one of the villagers asks if a rumor that Glinda and the wicked witch were friends is true. Glinda then begins to tell the story of the life of the 'wicked' witch.

The story is tragic, but the play does have a lot of funny moments. I had heard it described as a play that anyone can relate to. The characters are certainly relate-able. It is a great tale and in the end good does trump evil, but it challenges your idea of what you thought was 'good' is in this story.

The cast was phenomenal. Elphaba (the wicked witch) had an amazing voice. The dancing, the lighting and the stage forced your imagination to see story as bigger than the stage. It definitely lived up to the hype.

So other than hanging out at the theatre I have been ramping up my mileage. I don't officially start training until next week, but I've been getting into a new routine to prepare for it. My next big races are Hood to Coast (H2C) in Oregon, the Ashville Half Marathon and Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota. For training I'll be using the F.I.R.S.T. beginner program again, but adding an extra 5-7 mile run close to the long run in order to prepare for H2C. I'll also be adding hill repeats in addition to the speed work to prepare for H2C. I've never done a relay race and I haven't gotten any good advice on how to prepare. I've heard "you have to be in better than marathon shape' and that's been it. Not helpful. There are no training programs on the web for it either. So I'm winging it. The tough part is going to be getting in that extra run and still having a life.

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