Wicked!!!

Wicked, Wicked, Wicked. How remarkable was this show?! I went to the first preview on Thursday, and the atmosphere was electrifying. There were 2,500 people all eagerly anticipating the start of the show. After a few minor hiccups at the beginning (“Look there’s Glinda”, followed by silence), the show went incredibly smoothly; Leicester lad Joseph Connor did the city proud as various ensemble parts. The real star of the show was Idina Menzel, as the vulnerable yet passionate wicked witch of the west. Even with the flu, she still sounded amazing and was on another level from the rest of the cast. Miriam Margoyles and Nigel Planer were also fantastic. I’m hoping to go see it again before Idina flies back to Oz…I mean, New York.

Research, Research, Research!

I'm really excited at the minute. Not only am I going to see 'Wicked' (the musical tale of the two witches of Oz) tomorrow, but I'm also going to spend Friday at the Imperial War Museum, trying to find as much information on the role of women during the Great War, the Suffragette movement, and munitions factories as humanly possible!The people at the museum whom I have already spoken to seem really nice and helpful, so I'm planning on having a very productive day. I'm looking forward to reading the diaries by women of the period to try and see what everyday life was like for them during this period of conflict. I've also been informed about the Genesis website, which is run by the Women's Library (which I also plan to visit at some point). This website is a database of all the literature around the country relating to women's experiences throughout history. For anyone who is interested, the website address is: http://www.genesis.ac.uk/.