Day Fourteen: Wicked/Surprise

We've been so busy the last few days I've gotten behind on these posts.

Today is the day we have tickets for Wicked at the Burswood Entertainment Complex. That's a very space-age-sounding name and the location is equally impressive. First, we head into Perth for a stroll 'round the shops. Downtown Perth is bustling with activity and also a great deal of construction--we walk past the art gallery, the Perth Museum and the Perth Library, and many of the buildings are swathed in plastic and scaffolding. There is a pedestrian shopping promenade where we encounter a silver angel who gives Jarrah some fairy dust (which she promptly rubbed into her scalp) and a street performer named Bruce who had attracted an insanely large crowd. He had a joke about how he could easily turn juggling three balls into five, "don't worry--the kids don't get it, and if they do--you're a bad parent." Jarrah has been quoting that over and over, and no, she doesn't get it. He did juggle five balls, and various other tricks with whips and straitjackets, which kept us pretty much riveted for quite a while. He made fun of Americans and asked for a show of American hands. Mine was the only one! "Sorry, madam," he said, "but you did give us George Bush." Um, I wanted to shout back. That was NOT me.

We had a quick sandwich on some steps and then hurried to Burswood, where the theater for Wicked seats about 2,000 people. Wow! Jarrah and I were like matching six-year-olds when we saw everyone holding light-up green martini glasses piled high with green slushie (we both got the "kiddie" version without Midori.)

And then the coolest thing happened! Right there in the lobby of that massive theater, we ran into David's high school friends Steve and Kylie, whom I had really hit it off with the last time we were here. We hadn't managed to connect before the trip, and I had been a bit sad about missing them. And now here they were! And we were all free after the show! We quickly hatched a plan to meet up in the lobby and have dinner together. Yay!

And the show...wow. It was my first time, and the whole spectacle of it did not disappoint. Jarrah, too, was riveted from start to finish. I have to confess I nodded off towards the end of the first act and seem to have missed a key moment when Elphaba became public enemy number one. I whispered this to David during the interval, and he said he thought he might have slept through that same bit. Joan brought us up to speed. It's clearly a complicated show, but I was very moved by the relationship between the two witches, and got a bit choked up at the end.

After, we rode with Steve to their home in Mundaring, where we got to see pink and grey gulahs while playing with their gorgeous dogs in the backyard. Steve and Kylie are like big kids, and they carried and wrestled Jarrah until she was absolutely besotted with them. We went out to an incredibly delicious burger place near their house (the name escapes me) and I am happy to report that the slider craze has not skipped Western Australia.

Jarrah was nodding off, but she perked up back at the house when they brought out Guitar Hero (can you believe I've never played?) as well as what I suppose was Drums Hero and Vocals Hero, as we did those things as well. Turns out I am not a very good singer by Wii standards, and got lots of points taken off for too much flair.

I should mention that not only are Steve and Kylie sweet (Jarrah's new best friends) and flexible (inviting us to their place spontaneously) but incredibly generous as well. Steve is a professional photographer, and he sent us home with two gorgeous night cityscapes of Perth. And when we stopped in a flower shop near their house and Jarrah became fixated on a stuffed poodle? A certain someone whipped out a twenty and told her she could keep the change. Flowers, as the poodle is now known, was soon married to Wolfie, who tagged along on this trip, and Kylie gamely provided the appropriate falsetto the entire drive home. We hope it's not eight years until we see them again.