Monsoons, Massages and Matthew, Oh My!

I have never read the book, never heard the music and have no clue what the storyline is all about, but I have been dying to see the musical Wicked. Thankfully my wonderful brother, Matthew, had this same desire as well, noticed it was scheduled to be at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and called to let me know. Once we settled on a date and time, tickets were purchased! It is not very often when I can spend one on one time with Matthew. I was so excited! A few of days before the show, my brother asked if I could arrive in Tampa a few hours early to pamper me with a couple of spa treatments. For those of you who do not know Matthew, he is a massage therapist (and an extremely talented one, I might add!) who works at Raydiance Day Spa. Of course, I left early!!! Yet by the time I arrived at the spa I was in dire need of tension release! The entire trip was full of stress thanks to the monsoons that poured not just in Orlando, but in Tampa as well. There were a couple of times I could not see the road and I kept singing “Jesus take the wheel”… I’m NOT kidding. Thankfully 20 minutes in a space pod (hydration station) and 30 minutes of a shoulder massage, I was good as new! (Thank you so much, My Brutha’! You are such a caring and thoughtful soul!)

I was so thankful too of my brother’s knowledge of downtown Tampa. He introduced me to a unique culinary establishment called The Fly which was conveniently within walking distance of the Arts Center. As we indulged ourselves with some amazing samplings from the menu, Matthew and I were able to share some well over due quality time. If that was just the only thing we had done that evening, I would have still considered it a perfect night! Once our seats were found, we had twenty minutes before curtain call, and I simply could not stand it any longer. The anticipation was killing me. And I am happy to report that the show did NOT disappoint! It is hands down my favorite Broadway show! There were moments when Matthew was at the edge of his seat with awe… so I am pretty sure he loved it too! (LOL!) It was a refreshingly different twist on the whole OZ story – simply brilliant! I highly recommend at least seeing it once, if not more – there were so many references and cunning words… I am sure I missed a few. But this special night out would not have been complete without my wonderful brother! Thank you, Matthew! I sure wish we had more time like this together, but I will take what I can get. So in the meantime, let’s start looking for another show to attend!