"Wicked" the Musical, in NYC

Gregory Maguire is one of my favorite authors of all time. Why? Because he wrote "Wicked"-which is also a Broadway show that I will never get tired of seeing.

Back in 1995, Maguire released his first adult novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," which for some reason I was assigned to read in school and immediately fell in love with it. The book is based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz," but it creates a hero of the Wicked Witch of the West, also known as Elphaba.

In 2003, the book became an award-winning musical on Broadway, and I was fortunate enough to be able to see the show with the original cast. Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. Menzel is known for being the original Maureen in the musical "Rent," Chenoweth is the current star of the musical "Promises, Promises," and Grey originated the role of Master of Ceremonies in the musical "Cabaret."

Although the musical strays from the story told in the book, it still chronicles the life of the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, which, when all is said and done, shows that she was not so wicked after all. In fact, she was the underdog, the one fighting for Animal rights, and ultimately she lost the battle between her and her government.

The music in the show is intense and uplifting. After I saw the musical, I purchased the soundtrack, and after seven years of consistently listening to it, I still get chills at the end of the song "Defying Gravity."

I moved to New York City from California four months ago, and ever since I've gotten here, I've wanted to see a Broadway show. Unfortunately, as a graduate student, it's hard to justify spending the money for a Broadway show. Since "Wicked" is still immensely popular, it often costs over $100.

Luckily, I have found a couple venues that offer cheaper tickets. So, for those of you who really love the arts but want to keep costs at a minimum, I'm going to list a few websites to try. It may still seem on the expensive side, but "Wicked" is a musical really worth seeing.

Broadway.com
Cheap Wicked Tickets
Discount Broadway Tickets
Online Seats
Online Ticket Spot
Ticket Loot
Ticket Luck
Ticket Owl
Web Ticket Store

And now I'll leave you with some of the lyrics of the song that gives me chills. If you can, I also highly recommend buying the "Wicked" soundtrack.

"And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity"