A Wicked Advent
In which I attempt to draw analogies without wading into sacrilege
Sitting in the dark theater for the 8:30 showing of Wicked, my heart pounded in anticipation of the big reveal of “Defying Gravity.” Would they desecrate it? Would they honor it? Would they over-dramatize it? I waited on the edge of my seat.
Sitting in darkness, two-thousand years ago, Israel waited. Would God return to his people? Would he restore their land? Would they ever experience Emmanuel? They waited.
Today, the first Sunday of Advent, 2024, we gather to wait- on the edge of our seats, Christmas on the horizon. We are on a journey of four Sundays of anticipation, looking forward to the moment when we awed anew at the birth of our savior.
Idina Menzel enshrined her epic performance of “Defying Gravity” twenty years ago, and no one has been able to top it. It’s a bit dangerous to try, really. But the filmmakers had taken the plunge, and the time had come to deliver it to the world. I held my breath.
Out in a dark, chilly field, shepherds were startled by an epic performance of a different sort. Or so the story goes. A great company of voices from heaven singing. Singing. The wait is coming to an end, a baby called Jesus has been born. Music carried this news to them. It marked the finale.
Except it wasn’t the ultimate finale. And “Defying Gravity” wasn’t either. The birth of Jesus was the end of one part of the story, but there would be much more to come. “Defying Gravity” famously culminates part one of the musical before the intermission, which leaves you waiting for the story to truly finish. The “Wicked” filmmakers split their movie in two parts, honoring the timing of this intermission. Heightening the experience of watching Elphaba leap into the Western sky.
In both Wicked and Christmas, we witness the finale at intermission.
Something wonderful has happened, but there is more to come. Much more to come. In Advent, we practice waiting for the day of celebration of the birth of the Messiah, a birth that marked the end of Israel’s waiting. At the same time, the finale of Christmas doesn’t tell the whole story. Still ahead is remembering a life that would end on a cross, that would teach us how to love, that would hand the keys of the Kingdom over to the Church to carry forth the message of renewal and healing. Emmanuel.
Finales at intermission exist for our awe; to give us glimpses of glory. To mark chapters. The film’s rendition of “Defying Gravity” (in my opinion) succeeded in this. Every year, Christmas rises magnificently to the task of laying bare the beauty of the birth of the Lord and giving us a taste of what’s to come.
The intermission is worth celebrating, it’s worth waiting for. It’s the perfect marriage of “now and not yet.” It is so important that it deserves its own finale.
Crisanne, this was an incredible thought. Thank you for sharing it and for allowing God to use your imagination to experience Him (and share Him) in such a unique way. Fantastic!