no one mourns the wicked... but they do give standing ovations

As mentioned previously, this weekend I went to Toronto with my friends to see Wicked, a new ("new" as of 2003) musical based on the book of the same name that tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good before Dorothy came along. I've had the CD of the original Broadway cast for about a year, so it was great to have the visuals to go with it.

You never know what you're going to get with the touring casts, but this one was really strong -- from the principals to the chorus. Stephanie J. Block as Elphaba had an incredible set of pipes, and although I still wish we could've seen Idina Menzel in the role on Broadway, Block fit the bill perfectly.

Unfortunately, the weather put a damper on our plans. There were probably 10 minutes total the entire way there and back that it wasn't raining, and because of that we didn't stop to do any touristing in Niagara Falls on the way up. We also didn't walk around downtown Toronto, other than a few blocks to find a place to eat lunch and another few blocks to the theatre.

Further, the "adult pool" at the hotel was closed for renovation and the "family pool" was small and crawling with noisy kids -- including in the hot tub -- so we opted not to swim despite the temptation of the 130-foot indoor corkscrew waterslide. (Side note: I'm pretty sure the Delta Chelsea has been under renovation all three times I've been there, years apart.) But in typical taco fashion, we were able to pass the time simply by having coffee and dessert and talking. Other than the few hours before the show, we didn't really have much free time anyway, as we left for home Sunday morning.

But, the point of the trip was to see Wicked, which was awesome, so it was well worth it. I'll definitely see it again when it comes to Cleveland next summer (that's next summer, as in 2006), or if we ever make it to New York to see Avenue Q.

Since I knew I'd be gone this weekend, I scheduled a vacation day for Monday. On top of that, my parents are on vacation down south this week, away from the ridiculous Ohio weather, so I'll get to show off my culinary prowess to, um, myself (I actually kinda like cooking now and then, but I imagine it would get old when you have to do it every day). I was hoping I could get out and do some photography at Cascade Park on my day off, but I guess Mother Nature had other plans.