A 'Wonderful' night

Just got back from Fiona's school performance of "Wonderful" -- a retelling of the whole Dorothy/Wizard/witches story using the music of "The Wizard of Oz," "The Wiz" and "Wicked." Fiona -- age 11 -- played Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and speaking as the most biased observer in the audience, she was magnificent.

For an elementary school play, she had an extremely challenging role, donning green makeup and singing "Defying Gravity," a song that honestly most high school kids would have trouble pulling off. She and her friend Skyler (who played Glinda) practiced together for hours on end over the last month, and it paid off in spades. Here are a couple of clips from their performance:

Part 1:

Part 2:

As a parent, it's incredibly rewarding to see your child succeed at something she loves doing and worked hard to perfect. And it's a bit humbling to see an 11-year-old surpass your own limited theatrical accomplishments, which of course happened at age 18, not 11. Suffice it to say, I couldn't be prouder of her.

Here's a few more photos from the evening.

Fiona and Skyler (Elphaba and Glinda)

Elphaba and Glinda candid

Fiona and Nora (honorary munchkin)