Witchful Thinking

'A witch is born out of the true hungers of their time.'

Long After Midnight

Passions aren't formed from experiences lasting hours, days or weeks.  Passions born from single, often incredibly brief moments.  Observing once dance mov, hearing one or two from of a song.  That split-second experience of pure happiness because of something you hear, something you see and especially something that makes you feel.

I think my fascination with witches started with watching just a few minutes of the old sit-com Bewitched.  Growing up in the 1980's, the show wasn't playing on the television we owned.  But... there was a older couple who lived about a mile away who had cable that aired repeats.

My younger siblings and I had to go there afterschool from time to time, usually in December.  My mother worked from home, but over the Christmas holidays, she returned to her retail job to make some extra money to buy us gifts.  It was during these times, we had the couple watch us until my father picked us up after work.

Now, we really didn't get to watch Bewitched when we were there, when it began at 5pm, the older couple usually switched the channel to the news.  But... sometimes they were a little late, and I caught the first minute or two from time to time, just enough time, to be intrigued by Samantha and her magic.

It wasn't until years later, when I was an adult, that I caught full episodes of the show on DVD.  It certainly didn't hold up to my memories, and I only watched a season or two, but the show also introduced me to my first male witch in the form of Ancle Arthur.

Since then, I've been on a witch hunt, for movies and television shows featuring witches, both male and female.  My most recent watch, was a copy of the 1986 TV move The Worst Witch.  A witched themed show with both Diana Rigg and Tim Curry, not to mention Charlotte Rae, even as dated and corny as it was, was definitely worth a look.

I have to admit, I haven't seen all of the classics.  I watched the 1948 version of MacBeth when I was in high school, but there are other versions I want to see.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've never seen The Wizard of Oz.  I've seen so many clips of television over the years, I feel I've seen it, but I certainly must check it out one of these years.  I've also never seen Charmed, but it's on my list.  There are two recently television productions focused on Witches, Agatha All Along and A Discovery of Witches, both I feature on the NEXT PAGE HERE:

When it comes to Broadway, one of the most iconic shows about witches is of course Wicked.  Although I've seen the show, my passion for the project began after buying the original Broadway cast score back in the early 2000's.  I listened to that soundtrack for hours, especially while spending long hours on the bus, before finally getting my own car.

Most of you know the film version premieres next month, and although the two witchy leads can often be annoying, I am looking forward to seeing it.  I don't think its a film I'll run out to see in the theatre, but I'll check it out when it moves to streaming.  I decided to take a deep dive, not into withes Elphaba or Glinda, but of course, into the character of Fiyero, the male lead in the show.  Check out the dozens of hot actors who've slipped into Fiyero's boots on the NEXT PAGE HERE: