For my ninth birthday, my parents got me tickets to see the touring company of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked, at the San Diego Civic Theater. This was the first time I was introduced to the show. Needless to say, it absolutely changed my life (for good). The week after I saw the show, my fourth grade teacher asked everybody to write down their biggest dreams on a piece of paper. My piece of paper read “Lauren Del Mar is starring as Elphaba in the Broadway musical, Wicked”. On October 31st of 2012, I painted myself green and marched with a broomstick in my elementary school’s annual Halloween parade. Who was I dressed up as? Not just any witch, but THE witch. When my classmates would say that I was just dressed up as some regular old basic witch, I would correct them like the little smart-ass I was and proudly announce that I was Elphaba from the Broadway musical, Wicked. All hail the green queen. My mother still has the pictures of me and my splotchy green off-brand Party City painted face saved in a family photo album.
I have had the privilege of seeing Wicked three times within my twenty years of life, two of the times being on Broadway at the iconic Gershwin Theatre. The second time was for my nineteenth birthday and the third time was for my twentieth birthday. What can I say? I wanted to spend my birthday where I felt the most at home. In Oz. There’s no place like home? More like there’s no place like the Gershwin Theatre (even though the WiFi there is absolutely atrocious so you can’t even go on your phone during intermission but, hey, who cares? You’re in Oz! Shut up and enjoy it!).
As you can tell by now, this show holds a very special place in my heart. I belted “The Wizard and I” over and over and over in my bathroom mirror when I was applying to colleges because I wanted to remind myself that “my future is unlimited”, I dyed my hair blonde during the summer of 2023 and immediately tweeted that I was in my “Galinda the Good era”, and I watched hours upon hours of Wicked “slime tutorials” on YouTube trying to decipher which rendition of the iconic Elphaba/Fiyero/Galinda trio I enjoyed the most (Talia Suskauer, Ryan McCartan, and Brittney Johnson, for anyone who was wondering). If anyone is qualified to document their thoughts and feelings on the upcoming Wicked two-part film directed by Jon M. Chu, it sure as hell is me.
The butterfly effect is crazy, isn’t it? Over ten years ago, my parents wanted to get me a ninth birthday present, and now I am the most annoying person in the world and I am only about to get worse. Do you guys remember the way men behaved when the Joker came out? Well, this is my Joker and I am going to be so much worse. Instead of painting on the classic red Joker smile and heading over to my local movie theater, I will be busting out the green face paint yet again and dancing, not only through life, but right over to the nearest theater. This show has molded me into the insufferable woman that I am today. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about how I am going to react when I see Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey cup each other’s faces and sing “As Long As You’re Mine” in a thick sea of fog. I’m expecting to either hyperventilate, sob my eyes out, or pass out in my theater seat. Or all three. I will update you all when the time comes.
With that being said, the rumors are swirling and the streets are reporting that the Wicked trailer will be dropping during the 2024 Superbowl. Have I ever watched the Superbowl in my life? No. Will I be watching the Superbowl this year just to watch the trailer? Fine. You got me, I’ll watch your silly little football game. Because, at the end of the day, Wicked is my Superbowl.