Wicked in San Francisco

Wicked has been playing in San Francisco at the Orpheum theatre since early 2009 and I'd been really wanting to go see it. (Interesting fact: San Francisco's Curran Theatre originally hosted the previews for the musical back in 2003 before reworking some of the songs and heading to Broadway later that year). With the show ending its run in S.F. in just a few weeks I knew it had to be soon. Plus it would be fun to head up to the city with Kevin for a date.

Balcony tickets were already sold out and we weren't really feeling up to paying over $100 a ticket so we decided to enter the Wicked Lottery. You have to show up 2 1/2 hours before the show and enter your names. We were each able to enter to increase our chances (you get a maximum of 2 tickets if you win)

Then you had to wait 30 minutes for them to do the drawing and announce the winners. You have to be present to win and you must decide right then and there if you want the tickets paying with only cash. It can be a gamble because the seats are side orchestra and with the set of wicked those seats have more of an obstructed view than with most other shows. However, for only $25 a ticket, we were excited to take the risk.

They drew the first name and the lady that won screamed in excitement! I was holding my breath as they called a few more names and then they called my name! It was very exhilarating and I marched up there to claim my "I won the Wicked lottery" button and to buy our tickets.
Our original plan was to head to Little Italy for dinner to have a nice Italian meal, but we decided that the hassle of driving over there and finding parking and then coming back to the Orpheum wasn't worth it...especially since we found a really nice parking spot already and those are rare.

Instead we just walked a little bit trying to find a decent restaurant nearby. We ate at the Hayes Street Grill. After walking in and being seated we quickly realized that we were the youngest people there and that everyone else was obviously very wealthy. Luckily for us we had eaten a little bit when we first got into the city so we weren't famished. It was VERY expensive. The food we did get was delicious, but we probably wont be heading back there any time soon.
After dinner we headed back to get seated for the show. The Orpheum theatre opened in 1926 and the interior was originally designed after a 12th-century French cathedral which basically means it was incredibly gorgeous.

While part of the stage was blocked from view from our seats we were pretty happy with what we got for the price. We were able to scoot one seat closer and it was really only when they were further away from the front of the stage that we had any difficulty seeing. The show was fantastic (although we liked the first Act much more than the second) and the songs were incredible. If you have the chance to see the show I highly recommend it!

It was a great date night in the city and we'll have to head back soon so we can have our Italian dinner!