Simply Wicked!

Some days I wish I were in my kids' shoes:)) I mean, Robert and I are strict (mean) parents but we do come up with some of the most awesome things for our kids to do:). This one was one of the best surprises yet:)

The story began in June when I was planning our last few days in England and wanted to make our last outings be extra special. Mark has been asking to go see a musical one time in London. He really wanted to see Wicked or Lion King. Wicked was very familiar to him because of all the singing that Katya has been doing, so I decided to go with Wicked. 

But first!! 

I decided to see if I could somehow get in touch with the actress who plays Glinda in the show (well, this season). Her name is Savannah Stevenson. She is a member of our church, so whenever we would have the missionaries over for dinner, they would tell us how they are allowed to go see Wicked when they serve in London and when Savannah sees them in the front row, she takes them back stage after the show and chats with them. So I thought I'd try. I didn't manage to get in touch with her directly, but I did find somehow her husband on facebook! And I sent him a message telling him how I have this amazing fan who has performed "Wicked" songs so many times and whose birthday is coming up and that it would be just an incredible thing to get a chance to meet her! I didn't expect much and it was a long shot. 

And he replied! And said to buy tickets and let him know when we'd be coming. So I got tickets and we were off to London on July 12th with the kids who still had no idea they were going to see the real Glinda. 

It was a weeknight, so we kind of had to rush to make it to the 5 pm train and then eat our dinner on the train (homemade). This is Apollo Victoria Theater near Victoria tube station. British summer weather--still needing jackets. 

We bought some "budget" tickets on the edge with still really good views but we had to sit separately--two people in one row, another pair in another row and one person (Alex) had to sit by himself. 

This is Mark, excited for the show to begin. We never buy programs, so this was a big deal;)

During the intermission at around 8:20 pm, we talked to the kids about what they thought. They were all having a blast as usual (everyone besides Mark had seen the show before). That is when we told the kids that a huge surprise is awaiting them and that they were going to meet Savannah Stevenson who is Glinda on stage! Their jaws dropped! Katya actually almost started crying! And then they couldn't stop laughing! They were beside themselves! They couldn't believe it:) It was so fun to see their reaction. 

So after the show we rushed super fast through the crowd to the backstage door. Savannah told me to go to that door and tell them that she is expecting us. So we did do just that. Someone came down and led us through a very no-thrills hallway up the elevator to her room. It was sooooo strange to see her open the door....and seeing her BROWN hair:))) The kids were mesmerized! 

We knew ahead of time she was meeting with her agent after the show as well, so she had limited time to chat with us. Nevertheless, she was so kind and curious about us and it was amazing to actually talk to her. 

It was 10:30 pm by then, so as you can imagine we all were just full of adrenaline. I just can't believe she works so late every night.

After our meeting, she asked one of her helpers at the theatre to give us a quick tour of the backstage. The kids loved seeing some of the Glinda's accessories and the Wizard's chair. It was crazy to stand on that stage and know that that is exactly where all those awesome Wicked people stand and dance and sing:))

When we finally left the theatre we had to RUN to the tube and to the train because if we had missed the 23:00 something train we would have had to wait till like 12:30 am for the slow train... It was the perfect ending to our London adventures--a race through King's Cross and arriving to the platform huffing and puffing while the announcer was saying the train was boarding and we would be departing soon:))

I won't be surprised if we will win "The Coolest Parents Award" this year, for sure:)

Lyana.