Car trouble and Wicked books

My Life:
Today at work, the car broke down. Yep. We were roughly 40 minutes to an hour from our office. We had finished our interviews for the day and stopped off at Wendy's to eat. One in our party had never been there. We had nearly finished, and one of the team went out to the car to cool it down for the four of us. It wouldn't start. I think the engine was turning over, or something like that since I'm not familiar with cars, so whatever was happening when he turned the key meant that the problem wasn't a dead battery. I and another had come to wait in the car for the last of our band, and that's when we found out we were in a little trouble. We were sent to go wait back inside, while our supervisor made a call. We had someone bringing us another vehicle, we were told. The people we were working with for the interviews up there came and got us and took us back to their office, where we had met that morning. Myself and my two fellow employees played cards for a little bit. Then I suggested we walk over to Hastings, which was next door. The replacement car wouldn't be there for another 30 minutes or so, we were told, so we went over and hung out in a more amusing place than the office. The car came a little early, and then it was back to the office to unload our equipment and load our cameras and voice recorder onto the computers. We only had half an hour of work time left once we got back, but that's how it goes. Tomorrow we're going hiking, locally though, to interview some of the people who are working clearing trails and things. More on that tomorrow.


Wicked:
I saw A Lion Among Men at the Hastings today. It was on sale, I forget for how much, but it was a good price and I would have bought it, had I not already owned a copy. I think it was under $5 though.
While we're on the subject, how about how I got A Lion Among Men. I got it at the same time as Son Of A Witch, and since I haven't told about either, here goes.
It was Christmas of 2008. My family decided to get me both of the books, in order to complete the collection since I already had Wicked. Heh, I guess that's all there is to it. I got the new cover on Son Of A Witch, the one that looks like it's the same style as the Wicked the Musical logo (which is also one version of the cover for the book). I don't think A Lion Among Men has gotten a new logo yet. So far as I know it hasn't had a soft cover printing that I recall.

"You're gonna grin and bear it, your new found Popularity!"

P.B.

New book in "The Wicked Years" series

My Life:
Today work was rather uneventful. We traveled once again, but to a different city than last week.
In other news, I am missing Eclipse! Yes, I am a little sad about that. I guess I was too busy with things and just forgot. I have a DVD project I'm working on, another upcoming project once I get the footage, and I just started working. By the time I realized that Eclipse was less than a week away, my friend who I've gone with for the past two years had already made plans, and the theater was sold out.
Haha, funny thing, friend just texted and said, "I miss you. When I get back we have to go see this movie together". Aw!


Wicked:
Well, since I JUST found out some information (literally, I just clicked over to look at a different page and there it was), I guess that's what the Wicked part of today's post will be about!
Gregory Maguire is writing a fourth book in the The Wicked Years (as I just found out is the proper title) series, currently titled Out of Oz. Ooooh, apparently the fourth book has the focus on Glinda!

"I've decided to make you my new project!"

P.B.

Crazy life and Glee!

My Life:
Today has been utterly stressful. First off, work. I work with a team of two other reporters, plus our supervisor. We're in charge of writing some newspaper articles, taking photographs, doing interviews, making some newsletters, and also a DVD project.
Anyway, we had to travel last week to take some photos at another site an hour away. I don't mean like scenery photos, it's photos of actual people, working.
We each have our own laptop to work at, but shortly after starting I managed to wipe my system and replace Windows XP with Windows 7. It's still being worked on.....
We all have one folder that we keep everything in, which is like a sharing folder. A sharing folder means that multiple computers have access to everything in it. I don't know how many people in the building have access to it, but it may be all the computers.
Anyway, one of the team accidentally deleted a chunk of photos. By a chunk, I actually mean all of them. All the photos that we spent three days last week taking. Gone. Oh, yes, we checked the Recycle Bin. But since they were in the certain type of sharing folder, they weren't in the computers Recycle Bin. So, the supervisor called tech support or whoever, who actually has access to the Recycle Bin for the sharing folder, but we don't. He said there were no files there, so the files must have just been moved.
So, we spent many hours trying to find these missing photos. We never found them.
We can't retake the photos, and they are somewhat important to the project we're working on. What we'll do, I am not sure. Luckily, the person who did it didn't have a mental breakdown. I might've cried right there.
More happened today that added to my stress, but let's move on to the Wicked section of today's post.


Wicked:
Anyone who has seen Glee knows that Kristin Chenoweth made appearances in a two episodes in the first season. If you haven't seen Glee, it is a pretty good show, but not for kids. I call it, "realistic High School Musical". Lots of singing, lots of drama. Well, Kristin has two songs on the 1st soundtrack, Alone and Maybe This Time. You can listen to the entire (Volume 1) soundtrack in the playlist below. Okay, so the Wicked part of today is short, but I am stressed out still. -_- (There might be a report on Season 2 later on if I finish it. Season 2 had Kristin again, and also Idina Menzel.)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

"It sound truly crazy. And true, the vision's hazy."

P.B.

(Non-Wicked) Autograph for a friend and second Wicked book

A few days ago I got a package in the mail. Well, actually, a manila envelope. I wasn't quite sure what it was when I was first informed of it's arrival. I searched my mind for a few things I was expecting but was unsure of when they were coming (some prizes that I don't know when they'll get sent out). Anyway, as it turns out it was a gift I had gotten for a friend, for her Birthday. Her Birthday WAS in May, but I didn't have her gift ready then, partially due to this thing that hadn't arrived yet. I had thought it would be here on time, but it wasn't. Alright, you might be wondering just what "it" was. Well, it was an autograph from Bernadette Peters. I knew that my friend liked Bernadette, so I thought I would get her a personalized autograph as part of the gift. But, when getting autographs from the actors/actress themselves, you can't always be sure of when it will get there. I'm not sure how long this took, but I think it was over six weeks. Some autographs can take up to six months to get back though. Anyway, Bernadette said "Happy Birthday" to my friend, put my friend's name and her name. I thought it looked great, and it makes me jealous that I don't have an autograph from Bernadette. Hope she likes it. (I would show a picture, but it's got my friend's name on it and I do want to maintain her privacy.)

Anyway, onto the Wicked part of today's blog! Once again, I am unsure what to blog about, hence the big story above. How about my second Wicked book?
Well, I was up in Washington, I think it was, visiting an uncle with six other family members. We all crowded into his one bedroom (plus living room and kitchen) house for the night. I slept on a massage table. Uh, my uncle is a massage therapist, or something.
Anyway, the next day I wanted to get out of the house while everyone else got ready. So I got the GPS and looked up nearby points of interest for me (pawn shops and bookstores). I located one or two bookstores, and maybe a pawn shop, I don't remember too well. But I found a nice bookstore and spent a good deal of time in it, looking for certain books and just browsing. I didn't find anything that I wanted, but I didn't want to leave without purchasing something after being in there for so long. So, I picked up a copy of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West with the original cover, since I only had the smaller book with the musical cover. I think I ended up getting at least one more book after I picked up Wicked, and I knew that I already had one copy and maybe shouldn't buy another, but I did anyway. Below is a picture, though there isn't much special about the book.

"Where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it History."

P.B.

Idina Menzel "I was melting and I melted."

So here's Idina Menzel telling the story about the last time she melted. Both videos are the same story, but Idina tells it slightly different each time. Not all content in these videos may be suitable for children. They contain some language.


Video 1 August 19, 2005.



Video 2 August 20, 2005



Video 3 Unknown Date (story starts at about 2:20, not too great of quality):

"I'm limited. Just look at me. I'm limited. And just
look at you, you can do all I couldn't do, Glinda."

P.B

How the Defying Gravity lift works

For those who haven't yet seen this video, this explains how the Defying Gravity lift works. However, the melting scene trap door doesn't work the same way, thus the reason Idina Menzel thought she was dying in front of the hot crew guys that she played Poker with. She almost missed out on her dream of "no green M&M's". Oh wait, that's still a dream. Anyway, onto the video. (Oh, yes, I'll address the trap door thing tomorrow, for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about.)

How Stephanie J. Block defies gravity:

"Look at her, she's Wicked! Get her!"

P.B.

Alternate Wicked logo poster

I'm not entirely sure what to blog about today. Like I mentioned in the first post, where to start? I have a bunch of Wicked stuff, but showing off a piece from my collection doesn't seem very interesting. I could talk about what the actors/actresses are doing now, but if you wanted to know that, you could just do a Google search, go to Wikipedia, or read some sort of Broadway news or something. I don't know if this blog is supposed to be about me, or you. Whoever "you" are...or would it be, "whoever 'you' is"...or would it be "whomever" instead of "whoever"? Um...grammar moment. I was thinking of doing a post on the Grimmerie, but I think that will wait since I want to put up more photos than just the cover. And I have to be up for work for work tomorrow, otherwise I might take the time to make the post. I know. Why don't I show off my Wicked poster that I bought off Ebay who knows how long ago? It's an interesting picture.

I heard that this was originally one of the logos that they thought about sometime before Wicked truly went public. In the end, they went with the logo you see today. "They" being whoever is in charge of logos. I like the picture, but it might give too much away. I mean, it kind of does, and kind of gives the musical an edge of mystery if you didn't already know what it was about. Well, what do you think of this as the Wicked logo?

"Just for this moment, as long as you're mine..."

P.B.

A gift from an aunt

Christmas of 2007, I got my first Wicked book. It was from one of my aunts, for Christmas. I wasn't even allowed to read it at that time, not being eighteen yet. As well as the book, I received a hand crocheted Wicked blanket. The blanket is one of a kind, and amazing! Guess I don't have much to say today. Had to go into work half an hour early today, and I am a bit tired.

Of course, pictures!

The blanket:

My first Wicked book:

"Good news!"

P.B.

An interview with Julie Reiber

Remember yesterday how I mentioned a report on a future career? Well, we had to find someone to interview who was in that field of work. Boy, good luck with finding someone in the acting business to interview! I really wanted who had been in Wicked to interview. I originally sought out Idina Menzel, but her contact information was difficult to find. Not sure who exactly I all went to, but Julie Reiber was one of them. I received a reply, and managed to interview her about her work through E-Mail.
Below is the interview. It was a few years ago, so please excuse any amateurism.

Interview with Julie Reiber, the understudy for Elphaba in the musical Wicked.

Me: Why did you become interested in acting?

Julie: I had always been singing since I could speak and acting comes hand in hand with singing. I did my first show when I was 12.

Me: Do you enjoy you job?

Julie: Of course I enjoy my job! I am living my dream....making a living doing what I love.

Me: How did you become involved in Wicked?

Julie: I had auditioned then I met Stephen Oremus who was my musical director for All Shook Up. He is also the musical supervisor on Wicked, so the next time I went in, I knew him which helped because he could give me a good recommendation. Then I auditioned and got the job.

Me: Is it fun working in Wicked?

Julie: Wicked is a great show! The role is amazing and it is a wonderful show to perform every night!

Me: How much does everyone get paid? (Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Understudies, Ensemble Etc...)

Julie: Can't talk salaries. It's illegal, but you are paid according to the union minimums and anything else your agent negotiates for you.

Me: Does your job have any disadvantages?

Julie: As a standby it is hard. You want to be on stage every night, and your job instead is to wait for when they need you. You only perform when she is out, so it is very hard. You have to stay prepared vocally and mentally to be able to drop in at anytime...and that is a tough gig.

Me: What kind of education is needed for professional acting?

Julie: It is always great to have training under your belt and get a degree. There are people though that can make it on raw talent, but it is always useful and helpful to hone your craft and also to make good connections through education.

Me: What skills are needed for professional theater acting?

Julie: Acting training and experience. You gain so much from just experience on stage, but there is a lot of craft to acting that you can learn to enhance your natural instincts and talent.

Me: Is there anything that I can do now to help me prepare for an acting career?

Julie: You can take acting class. You can see shows and work on music. Study and audition for shows when you can.

Me: What did you do before you were in Wicked?

Julie: Right before Wicked I was doing a production of "Godspell" at Papermill Playhouse which is now transferring to Broadway.

There you have it, the life of a star!

Here is Julie as Elphaba:

"...people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn."

P.B.

A surprise from Megan Hilty

A few years ago, I printed several photos of musicals and actors/actresses from a home printer, for a school project. The quality of the photos was decent enough. Once the project was over, the photos were still intact, so I decided to send one to Megan Hilty, to see if she would sign it for me. If not, I wasn't losing anything valuable. I also sent a sort of thank you letter type thing, just fanmail to the cast, since it was not long after I had seen the show. The photo I sent was one of her in Popular, which is below.
Sometime later I received an envelope back, with Megan's name on it. Opening it, I found two photos. One of them was the same one I had sent her, except in much better quality. She had also sent a personalized photo as well. Back then, I didn't know how to ask celebrities for autographs. The proper etiquette and whatnot. But, I am so glad for what Megan sent. It was an epic gift for a fan. Below is a picture of both photos. The Popular one is the one I sent her originally, but like I said better quality. The second photo has my name blotched out, though. (Unfortunately the scanner does not do the photos justice.)

"I know about Popular!"

P.B.

My first (and only) time seeing Wicked

I remember that day well. Not what day it was, however. It was sometime in August, I think, 2006 maybe. I don't have my ticket stub from it, though I of course have my Playbill. My step-father and I decided to buy tickets to a show in Los Angeles, which was 5-6 hours away. It was the closest show, however, and I had heard of a few of the cast from online videos. Megan Hilty and Kristoffer Cusick were two I was looking forward to seeing, and Eden Espinosa as well. (Click each name to go to a site for each. Especially check out Kristoffer Cusick's song, "On Wings of a Swan".)
Well, after listening to Wicked and Cats and maybe some Brooklyn, and who else knows what, we arrived in LA. After getting slightly lost, we ended up at our hotel, which was a mile or so from the Pantages Theater. We had some time to spare, so we stopped at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum thing.
That knocked off enough time for us to be a little early to the theater. Well, we arrived, but they wouldn't let us inside the main theater where the performance was held yet, so we waited in the lobby outside. 3 bottles of water were purchased, at an amazing $4 apiece.
Once inside, we quickly found our seats. Of course I was shaking. Seeing Wicked was a dream come true. There was the Time Dragon Clock head, and the amazing curtain with the map of Oz.
I had already seen the musical in it's entirety online, so I knew how it ended. But a video is not comparable to a live show.
We were seated nearly center, in the balcony, although it appeared any seat in the house would be a good one. We were two seats in from the edge of an aisle. One of the two people who occupied the seats to the right of us jokingly said that we stole their seats. See, when you go to buy theater seats, at least in our instance, the site gives you about 15 minutes or so to decide if you really want the tickets. The site holds the tickets, and makes it appear as though they have been bought. If they are not claimed within the time limit, they go back on sale. Well, we had apparently grabbed their seats when their session timed out.
Anyway, they tipped us off to something that helped make the night more unbelievable. They said that after the show, if we went to the side of the theater by the stage door, that some of the actors/actress came out and signed Playbills. Wow. No. Could not be true. No way.
Well, it was amazing. I had felt sick the first act, nerves and whatnot. When intermission rolled around after Defying Gravity, I really had to pee. Like, immensely. I went and looked at the bathroom line, and decided I could wait. Never try to use the bathroom during a show. It's crazy.
So, afterward we headed to the stage door. We stood in a line and waited. Then, there they were. If I recall Megan Hilty was first. I wished I had a camera, to get photos with the cast. Alas, the meager camera I carried didn't take photos well in the dark (or really at all, it was better for video), plus I think the battery may have been dead anyway.
But at least I got autographs, and to see some of the cast, face to face. As I said, Megan was first. All I could utter was, "Thank you so much." I think Kristoffer Cusick came next. I admit I did have a slight celebrity crush on him at the time. His hand brushed my finger. Just one of them. Which I don't remember, but I think it was on my left hand. Anyway, next I think came the Boq understudy, who had taken Logan Lipton's place that night. He was Michael Drolet, and he signed my Playbill as well. I don't know if he came out intending to sign things, but someone shouted about him being there and well...anyway, he came and signed Playbills. Next came Eden Espinosa, her hair slicked back and wet from washing off her green make-up. If I recall, there were still traces of green near her hairline. That was all the autographs I got. I don't know if anyone else came out after we left.
We headed back to the hotel, but stopped to eat. I ordered a slice of pizza, which I ate little of. I was still too excited. Then this guy came in asking for change, and the guy working the counter yelled at him to get out.
Upon arriving at the hotel, I realized that I forgot my pajamas. Yep. So, I slept in my clothes from that day. The hotel was also cold. But I had seen Wicked.
We traversed back the next day, another 5-6 hours back. I had seen Wicked, something I hadn't expected to happen for years. I had a signed Wicked Playbill, an unexpected bonus. I still have the $4 water bottle from the Pantages Theater. And, you might say I got to meet Megan Hilty, Kristoffer Cusick, Eden Espinosa, and Michael Drolet.
All in all, a night to remember, and never forget.

Here are a couple of photos of my Playbill:

"Tell them how I am Defying Gravity!"

P.B.

I've listened to Wicked...well, a lot.

Since loading the song onto my iPod on New Years Eve 2006, I have since listened to all of the songs a total of 2,160. (Not including listening to live Wicked songs and instrumentals (499), plus all the Idina Menzel (249) and Kristin Chenoweth songs (570), which I probably would not be listening to today without Wicked, and not to mention the YouTube videos. Oh, yes, and the songs by Stephanie J. Block (38) and one by Julia Murney (11).) Phew! I think that is all the Wicked related songs I have. (EDIT: Actually, I realized I left out You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Kristin Chenoweth) and Brooklyn (Eden Espinosa). So many!) So, the grand total of songs related to Wicked is 3,527(+) plays since I got the Wicked soundtrack in 2006. Below is a list of my top iTunes songs. As you can see, Wicked dominates 9 out of the top 10 spots.

"That does sound wonderful!"

P.B.

How I discovered Wicked the Musical

Well, now that you know a little about me from yesterday, I suppose we'll begin....well, where it all began.

It all started a few years ago. I don't remember the exact date, since I didn't see it as important at the time. I think it was 2003, probably closer to 2004 though. I was visiting a friend's MySpace, and they had the song Popular from Wicked on their profile. (Back when I first had MySpace, it was only one song for the profile and not a whole playlist, unless you put it on your page manually from an external site.) Well, that is where it all began. I liked what I heard, and for some reason it sounded familiar. (I have some recollection of them playing it at the movie theater, because they play music before the movie starts while the advertisements are shown.) I do think I may be wrong though.

Well, from there, I'm not sure what happened. New Years Eve 2006, a friend had just bought the CD, and she brought it to my house (we were having a party). I think it may have been sealed still! I immediately loaded it onto my computer, and shortly after it made it's way to my iPod (actually, that same night). (Check tomorrow's post for more on that.)

Back then, I couldn't find many people who had even heard of Wicked. Today I am still sometimes surprised when I mention the musical and someone has heard of it. Wicked seems to be gaining it's bit of fame, and I cannot wait for the movie! (NO, do NOT get your hopes up, the soonest is 2012, was 2010, but who really knows?!)

Well, I suppose that's my story. I accidentally stumbled on a song, and that led down a yellow brick road to where I am today.

"I never asked for this, or planned it in advance..."

P.B.

First post

Hi there! Well, here I am, starting a blog. I don't want to sound like some fourth grade fangirl, so I'm going to try and sound a little bit civilized. Just got finished watching the movie Julie and Julia, and it inspired me to write a blog about what I like...LOVE. Here I will be blogging all things Wicked. Hoping to blog everyday, but, I have a problem setting high aspirations for myself and then not always meeting them.

A little about me:
I hope to be a writer someday. When people ask I say that I write fantasy, but I also write poetry and some song lyrics. Also, my genre is not limited to fantasy. I also write some fanfiction, and dabble in what takes my fancy. I have a great idea that I can only dream about getting published, since it's a comic book story and DC Comics would have to pick it up because...well, never mind about that. If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life it would be popcorn. Currently, there are five hats sitting on a stuffed tiger sitting on my desk, and I know that because I'm looking at it right now.

I have not finished the book Wicked, although I own all three in the series. I hope to re-start reading Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and blog chapter by chapter. (Hoping this blog will motivate me.) However, my true love lies in the musical.

Advice to those who have somehow stumbled upon here and don't know what I'm talking about: Go see the musical, and just skip the book.

Oh, sure, the book is greatly written. However, I feel it contains too many unnecessary details. More on that later.

In short, I had a friend once say that I'm "tbe biggest Wicked fan I've ever met". If you can find someone more obsessed than me, send them here so we can become best friends.

The problem I run into now is what to blog first. I own over 20 Wicked related items, plus I want to blog the books chapter by chapter (or something like that), I have 2-3 reports from high school I wrote on Wicked (one on the musical, one on the composer, Stephen Schwartz), not to mention the other books Gregory Maguire has written, the other musicals and films Stephen has composed. Just wow, I feel like there is a lot to be covered. Well, we shall see.

"But of course I'll care for Nessa."

P.B.