An Absolutely "Wicked" Halloween!

So, let it be known that I don't like Halloween. I tend to get a lot of angry looks returned to me when I say that but I just find it's an over commercialized time of year and some people need to chill out about it. That being said, when Caitlin told me she had booked tickets for us to see Wicked on Halloween, I was not impressed because that meant I would have to be out and about and see hundreds of people dressed up in scary costumes and lining the streets of London. Well, it turns out that it's not a very popular thing over here! Not to mention that seeing Wicked made up for everything!

I picked up the Souvenir Programme to cherish the memory!

Spectacular. Stunning. Stellar. Amazing. Indescribable. Unforgettable. Breathtaking. Life Changing... The list could go on and on with adjectives I could use to describe the show. Wicked has been captivating audiences across the world, but it has specifically been running in London for 10 years! While I feel that the story is a bit slow to start, it definitely picks up and at the end of the first act, you are definitely left sitting there breathless and in tears from the hour prior to that. Sit back down for the second act and the buildup to the end is such a thrill!

The storyline of the play is simple: it is the tale of Elphaba and Glinda, the two witches who are in the Wizard of Oz. As the story progresses, Elphaba becomes the wicked witch based on the trials of growing up as "the green girl". The girls first become friends in university and Glinda is jealous of Elphaba because she is chosen in favour of the wizard. Now, remember that Glinda is supposed to be the good witch... it turns out that it is mostly a façade and she is actually the bully towards Elphaba and their other classmates. The story continues and the audience then learns that the Wizard is actually a weak little man who has been controlling all of them with his schemes and in reality, he isn't so wonderful at all. The end of the play comes to no surprise to anyone who has seen the film as Elphaba is killed by none other than a little girl named Dorothy, who throws a bucket of water on her. I'll say no more on that, however, because there are some twists in the plot that blend in superbly with the original story of Dorothy and her time in Oz.

The set was stunning. The voices were crisp and on key with every note. The costumes were beautiful! If I was to pick a word to describe it, I would have to choose flawless. Now, how does this relate to time? Well, it's a bit difficult to describe because you need to see the set in order to understand, but it's designed in such a way that you can always see some shape/ size/ form of gears, much like those gears on a clock. I spent the majority of the production trying to focus on what other meaning this might have! I am still undecided as of yet, but I have a feeling it is to suggest that time is always moving forwards and even the most powerful of individuals cannot stop that from happening. I think I need to see it again to create the final verdict!

As I type this now, I am singing the songs over and over in my head as I have been for the last two days. I must say that it sets me into a good mood for going back to work tomorrow!

Outside the Apollo Victoria Theatre

The incredible set!

What Time is It?

It would seem that my posts have a recurring theme: time. As it stands, I have another other post lined up from my adventures and it also involves the notion of time, but I will get to that later. Particularly today, however, it seemed appropriate to discuss time because back in Canada the time fell back an hour. Meanwhile here in the UK, the time fell backward a week prior to Canada. However, why this is the way it is will remain a mystery to me. Now, over the last week it was brought to my attention that the time zones are all measured from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, which is just a short drive from where I live! While on my visit to the observatory, I learned that it was there that history has been made for hundreds of years as Greenwich was the hub for research on time... and the building that I stood in was the very same one from back in the day!

There are a few sights to see while at the observatory. The main one being the Prime Meridian. While it is rather plain when you are up close to it, you cannot help but think about how so many scientists had walked the very same ground so many years beforehand. Without the measurements and discoveries made there, I'm curious as to what our notions of time would be like today? The Prime Meridian is just a line in the ground, but it is there that you begin to measure east and west longitude. In other words, that line is literally GMT 0:00. It is from that very same line that when I turned and looked westward, I realized that it wasn't just miles that measured the distance to back home in Grafton, but it was also time. For me, this is a little more comforting to know because 5 hours in the time change is much more appealing than 3,500 miles.

Anyway, I won't ramble on too much about this because I have a feeling it will get very wordy and confusing to read and type. That said, I just wanted to post a few pictures and hammer some words out onto the keyboard to go along with them. The Royal Observatory was a very neat place to visit and should be on everyone's to do list!

The Prime Meridian

Looking north over London from the hill where the observatory is!

This clock measures in 24 time, and when the time changes, this clock doesn't.