[Madison]

Very recently, I saw the touring company of Wicked perform (twice!) here in Seattle. After the first show, a matinee, my friend Vicky and I went to a restaurant close to the theater for an early dinner. A few minutes after we were seated, there was a giant commotion behind me and I overheard a lot of people saying things like, "you were fantastic," or, "can I have your autograph?" Naturally, I turned to see what the fuss was about and nearly ran into Sebastian Arcelus, the man who'd played Fiyero in the show. A few minutes later, the rest of the cast joined him.

The point, I suppose, is that it was remarkable to see how the non-FIRST folk treated their celebrities when given what amounts to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with them. They fell apart, nagged them while they were eating dinner and went home with an autograph. What good does that do? It was in sharp contrast to what we see at events where both students and mentors alike have pretty grounded conversations with some folks who can be described only as visionaries.

In Atlanta this season, Woodie Flowers came up to me before a match and engaged me in a conversation. How often do Broadway superstars do that?

This really is something special we've got going on here.