This last weekend, I had a chance to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as well as Wicked (in the same day!). I seem to be hearing some negative comments about the Harry Potter movie, but considering the size of the book, and the massive amount of content they had to cover, I thought they did a great job. They covered all of the really important details, even though sometimes it meant they had to be really quick about it (which might lead people to say it "jumps around too much"). The movie left me struggling to remember some details from the book, as well as book 7, so I'm definitely going to have to go back and skim the books again. It's such a fun series.

Wicked was truly great. I was a little worried at first as the actress who was playing Elphaba wasn't the regular - it was the standby. Elphaba is pretty much the single most important role in the musical, and the regular actress had an insane amount of experience in Broadway. It definitely left me feeling a little bummed. However, once the show started, the standby distilled any doubts I had - she had a lot of talent and was plenty good enough. I guess that's why she's not an understudy - she could be the lead any day of the week. I always am so happy when I watch musicals though - they are one of my favorite escapes. I would rather see a musical than any movie. I will say that it helps to know all of the songs extremely well - you can connect easier with the songs because you know what's being said, so you can just appreciate the performance. It also gives you something to compare against, so you know how good the cast is. I couldn't help thinking about singing all of the Wicked songs with my sis though as they were being performed - I think we sound great together (we've sung musical duets together for years), and it's one of my favorite things to do. I'll have to make some recordings sometime soon so people can hear her - her voice is gorgeous.

Now I just gotta make it through the week so I can enjoy my 3-day weekend!