We're Gonna Make You Pop-U-Lar

Hey! What Gives? One post a month?
That's highway bloggery!
November's usually a sick month for me...
but this month in particular has been absolute chaos!
My wife went on a business trip to China for a week-
I turned 39 ("40 is the new 20...40 is the new 20") two weeks
back- sandwich in Thanksgiving at my sisters' and at the In-Laws-
and, the capper- my cutie patootie just turned Lucky Seven two days ago.
Happy Birthday Kenna Beans!
She's always been a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz- it was her first live action
movie she ever sat all the way through as a toddler, so we brought tickets
to see the Broadway production of "Wicked". We gave it to her the morning
of her birthday and she cried with joy. It was one of those sweet parent moments
that only come every so often. We've had the soundtrack since the play came
out, so she knew every song going in. As we arrived at the Gershwin at 51st St. She was in near gallop mode- she was geeked to the gills!
The show's playbill recommends that the show is for children 8 and up
and we had a few old timers in our aisle eyeballing McKenna skeptically as if she were too young to be there. But once the curtain went up, she was transfixed.
The play itself was amazing-if you're even a casual fan of the 1939 film-you'd really enjoy how the play tweaks the mythology of the story.
The premise is that the Wicked WItch wasn't really wicked at all- she was a victim of racism (She's always teased for being green) and a media propaganda target-
because she figures out that the "Wonderful" Wizard was a phony before anyone.That's why the Wiz sent Dorothy and the gang on the witch hunt to begin with.
Pretty heady stuff for a musical! I'm gonna read the novel it was based on!
Great sets, costumes, cast and the music, of course, was tiptop....
Saturday Night Live alumnus Ana Gasteyer played the part of
the Wicked Witch, and while I thought her singing bits with Will Ferrell back in the day
were hilarious, I wondered if she had the chops for the big stage.
To my surprised delight, she was fantastic!
As the curtain went up for intermission, McKenna grabbed my arm and shouts:
"DADDY! Guess what?? It's not over yet!!! There's still MORE SINGING!!!"
and even the oldsters at the end of the row had to admit she was adorable.
On the train ride home, she tells me-
"Daddy I learned something tonight. I learned that it's not nice to laugh at anybody's skin color."
and I'm thinking-
"Great Balls of Fire! Did that play just teach my daughter a life lesson?"
"You know what McKenna? You're absolutely right- it is not nice to laugh
at anyone for the color of their skin."
"So Dad, If I ever meet someone with green skin, I promise not to make fun of them."