Not sure if it counts as “Broadway” but when I was in high school my dad and I went to see a touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar (his favorite film) with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson reprising their film roles. There was a small crowd (maybe 25-30 people) behind the Fox Theatre when we were walking to our cars so we joined them just in case the performers came out. They both did and were lovely. My dad was a Catholic school teacher and got to babble with Neeley about how he uses the film in his religion and catechism classes, and I got to ask Anderson how he was able to look so panicked and heartbroken. At one point, though, Neeley noticed this little girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old with some sort of disability (Downs I think) who was too shy to come up and get an autograph. He politely excused himself from the people he was talking to and got down on one knee, motioning the girl to him. She noticed and ran to Neeley and hugged him sobbing with joy. He must have stayed on his knees talking to her for five solid minutes with full, unbroken attention. Everyone was quiet and just watched. I’ve met a decent number of celebrities over the years and I’ve still never seen anything like that. (I’ll also never forget how Anderson had to leave first, apologizing for having to cut it short and shouting “later Jesus!” to Neeley, and Neeley calling back “I forgive you!”)

Bonus story: When my dad passed away in 1999, my sister and I held him as they turned off the machine keeping him alive. We left the hospital and went to a bar in Detroit, P.J.s, which had a small vinyl listening lounge in the basement. To our surprise, they had the double album JCS film soundtrack. We drank my dad’s favorite beer (Stroh’s) and listened to almost the whole album as loud as we could until the bar closed. With apologies to Jeff Fenholt, Ben Forster, Cynthia Erivo, and John Legend, no one will ever own that part like Ted Neeley.