I’m at New York City’s Hudson Theatre, where patrons are eagerly taking their seats, awaiting the start of Every Brilliant Thing. Duncan Macmillan’s one-man show is about someone who makes a list of all the best things about life in order to make their mother believe life is worth living, and the play’s star, Daniel Radcliffe, is making his way through the audience, talking to patrons, handing out notecards. And then… he pauses for a brief second to plot his next move.
“Hi, I’m Dan.” I look up, and there he is. The Boy Who Lived! Standing right in front of me! We shake hands and he gives my starstruck sister-in-law a notecard, explaining that when he says “Three!” onstage during the show, she needs to yell out what it says: “Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV.” After she gratefully accepts her assignment, we watch as several people around us decline Radcliffe’s offer to participate onstage near the start of the show. Some are too shy; others shrug him off, completely unenthused by the notion of acting on Broadway with a Tony winner. This, as it turns out, creates quite the conundrum for Radcliffe, who then — despite having already chatted with us — turns again to me.
