absolutum dominium

the highlight of my day.

i didn't get a chance to watch "wicked" on broadway, but i got to watch it on "broadway in chicago", as tt's how they call the theatre scene here.

fucking lucky. they actually had lotteries here as well, and i managed to get a damn good orchestra seat ticket in the ford theatre, originally priced at $110, for a mere $25, for tonight's performance. and wicked was in one apt word - wicked.

or rather, PHE-FUCKING-NOMENAL.

i've seen 2 musicals and 1 play since my winter break started, but wicked beats everyone hands down. it is A-MAZING! i loved the whole spin of the fabled story of the wizard of oz, but this time with the witch as a protagonist. and not only was the story riveting with all the usual elements of comedy, enchantment, action, betrayal and romance, not to mention the usual miss popular/miss fugly conflicts and the themes of inner vs. outer beauty and how friendship figures into all of this, it was well-written and tied up the loose ends. but tt's just the start of it. the theatre itself was a sight to behold, grand and high-ceilinged and with such extravagant furnishings. you have to see the photos to believe it. in fact most of the audience who came were dressed to the nines. i was probably the only person who'd just stepped in from my shopping trip.

the sets were as seamless as if it was directly on broadway, and the costumes were so bright and colourful. but oh yes, the actress who played the witch herself positively BLEW ME AWAY. it's her voice. it is by far, the BEST voice i've heard. she is so charismatic tt she practically enthralled the entire audience the moment she started singing her song, with the climax being the songs just before the intermission. the entire sell-out audience gave her a unanimous standing ovation after her performance. she was tt good.

and i am SO GLAD tt i caught wicked.

anyway my camera was being itself today - i.e. spoilt - so today was more like a shopping trip for me. went downtown and walked down the magnificent mile. because the canadian dollar is so strong, it's a lot cheaper to buy books from the US. so i bought 4 books today, including the dan brown prequel to the da vinci code and neil gaiman's anansi boys, which barnes and noble was having a 50% discount on tt hardcover book. i also bought a pair of black sandals from payless and i found tt white blazer tt i wanted to buy from gap. fortunately the discounts are NATIONWIDE. heh heh heh.

i also went to this sandwich joint called potbelly for dinner. a six-inch sub is only $3.89 for salami, roast beef, ham and turkey breast, and the usual works. cheaper than a sub! and it had really yummy shakes and soups too. MMM.

oh, and in case i forgot to mention, i love the culture here in chicago. everyone is SO FRIENDLY! you can strike up a conversation with ANYONE you see. i don't know if it's even friendlier than vancouver, because it sure seems tt way. i've been talking to people wherever i go, even in the theatre before wicked i was conversing with this well-heeled couple about my trip to new york. it's just wonderful.

also, in the dorm where jason stays, every level is CO-ED. and guys and girls share a common bathroom even. yeah. we all bathe, pee and piss in the same area... well, kind off. but even so it's not scandalous or anything. i don't know if this culture is unique to UC, or is it tt maybe sometimes we make too big a fuss over gender separation. but i'm not here to preach. i'm just here to have fun. :)

toodles.