One Short Day in the Windy City
Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:56 pm
That's what Mom's T-shirt says that she bought after we saw Wicked in Chicago today. We flew out at 7:30 am and returned at midnight. It was a surprise, though she knew whatever we were doing would take the whole day, and to dress for cold.
Until I handed her the boarding pass she did not know what city we were visiting.
We arrived at 8:45 am and took the blue line downtown. We had a few hours free until our first appointment, so we walked over to Millennium Park and took several pictures of the Bean with snow on top (photos tomorrow). We spent a few minutes in the Art Institute's gift shop getting warm, and purchased note cards as we are always needing more. I got a set of Georgia O'Keeffe's petunias, and some chakra patterns, and a set of Monet cards for PAF Boy, who went to Paris and the Monet house with me several years ago.
We met my former coworker for lunch at Rosebud Prime at 11:30, which was very nice. She took a buyout from my paper in September, and just interviewed with the Tribune (they called her).
Then Mom and I walked to Randolph Street so she could finally find out what was the Main Event. She had not guessed Wicked, even once she knew we were going to Chicago. In Charlotte, mostly tour shows, we get matinees only on weekends. In NYC and Chicago they do them on Wednesdays because there's a much larger population base to support them.
She and I saw Wicked in Charlotte on the national tour, and became obsessed with the soundtrack and the original actors. We will each play "For Good" at the other's memorial service. "I don't know if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good."
I got to see it again in Atlanta in October, and Mom was a little envious. We are going to L.A. and Vegas in April, and I thought we could go to the standing show then, but it's closing this month to move to San Francisco.
So then I thought, "Doh, they play every day in NYC." But I needed a matinee today so we could fly in, see it, and fly home, without the expense of a hotel. A CLT-NYC flight is only a little over an hour, so that would've been easy. But there was no matinee today.
And then I went, "Doh, they play every day in Chicago also," and checked on that, and there it was. That show is also closing soon, and that group will become the second national tour.
I did tons of research on whether we could see OK with specific limited view seats, and it was just fine. They have a tier between the orchestra and the balcony called Dress Circle, and from the sides, you can see everything just fine except the dragon clock, which is fraught with meaning in the book but no big deal in the show. We could see Elphaba at the top of "Defying Gravity" just fine. I would not recommend it for a first-time viewer because there are a few visuals you miss, but for a $45 tickets instead of three times that much, and a 4-seat row with my leg sticking into the aisle, I was very pleased.
I booked all this six weeks ago, and never told Mom what the adventure was. That was much of the fun, for both of us.
After the show we ate dinner at the Atwood Cafe nearby, which I highly recommend. It is pricey but well worth it. We had butternut squash soup that tasted like liquid Snicker bars. They are accustomed to theater diners, so they can get you in and out of there reasonably quickly if you need to. There was a vanilla bean creme brulee as well, though we did not photograph it. We did photograph their Wicked Witch Martinee, or whatever they called it. It is the appropriate shade of green: pineapple juice, vodka, and blue midori. Yum.
Then we got on the blue line to O'Hare and came home.
The header is from a song in the show, and Mom realized it applied to us, so she had to buy the shirt.
I got maybe three hours of sleep last night, and 3-4 during the day on the plane and trains, so I am going to sleep well tonight. I always tell roomie not to worry about these things - I have the rest of my life to sleep. This was a way cool day.
Until I handed her the boarding pass she did not know what city we were visiting.
We arrived at 8:45 am and took the blue line downtown. We had a few hours free until our first appointment, so we walked over to Millennium Park and took several pictures of the Bean with snow on top (photos tomorrow). We spent a few minutes in the Art Institute's gift shop getting warm, and purchased note cards as we are always needing more. I got a set of Georgia O'Keeffe's petunias, and some chakra patterns, and a set of Monet cards for PAF Boy, who went to Paris and the Monet house with me several years ago.
We met my former coworker for lunch at Rosebud Prime at 11:30, which was very nice. She took a buyout from my paper in September, and just interviewed with the Tribune (they called her).
Then Mom and I walked to Randolph Street so she could finally find out what was the Main Event. She had not guessed Wicked, even once she knew we were going to Chicago. In Charlotte, mostly tour shows, we get matinees only on weekends. In NYC and Chicago they do them on Wednesdays because there's a much larger population base to support them.
She and I saw Wicked in Charlotte on the national tour, and became obsessed with the soundtrack and the original actors. We will each play "For Good" at the other's memorial service. "I don't know if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good."
I got to see it again in Atlanta in October, and Mom was a little envious. We are going to L.A. and Vegas in April, and I thought we could go to the standing show then, but it's closing this month to move to San Francisco.
So then I thought, "Doh, they play every day in NYC." But I needed a matinee today so we could fly in, see it, and fly home, without the expense of a hotel. A CLT-NYC flight is only a little over an hour, so that would've been easy. But there was no matinee today.
And then I went, "Doh, they play every day in Chicago also," and checked on that, and there it was. That show is also closing soon, and that group will become the second national tour.
I did tons of research on whether we could see OK with specific limited view seats, and it was just fine. They have a tier between the orchestra and the balcony called Dress Circle, and from the sides, you can see everything just fine except the dragon clock, which is fraught with meaning in the book but no big deal in the show. We could see Elphaba at the top of "Defying Gravity" just fine. I would not recommend it for a first-time viewer because there are a few visuals you miss, but for a $45 tickets instead of three times that much, and a 4-seat row with my leg sticking into the aisle, I was very pleased.
I booked all this six weeks ago, and never told Mom what the adventure was. That was much of the fun, for both of us.
After the show we ate dinner at the Atwood Cafe nearby, which I highly recommend. It is pricey but well worth it. We had butternut squash soup that tasted like liquid Snicker bars. They are accustomed to theater diners, so they can get you in and out of there reasonably quickly if you need to. There was a vanilla bean creme brulee as well, though we did not photograph it. We did photograph their Wicked Witch Martinee, or whatever they called it. It is the appropriate shade of green: pineapple juice, vodka, and blue midori. Yum.
Then we got on the blue line to O'Hare and came home.
The header is from a song in the show, and Mom realized it applied to us, so she had to buy the shirt.
I got maybe three hours of sleep last night, and 3-4 during the day on the plane and trains, so I am going to sleep well tonight. I always tell roomie not to worry about these things - I have the rest of my life to sleep. This was a way cool day.
