Benji was about to get up from his seat like some of the others had already begun doing when a man walked to the center of the stage with a mic.
"Hello, everyone!" he said jovially. "I hope you enjoyed the show tonight."
"We did!" a girl shouted.
"Good to know," the man smiled in the direction of the girl before turning serious. "I know that a lot of you want to meet Troy and other cast members as they exit the theater. Last week, many fans were waiting outside when it led to a stampede in the back alley of the theater. While they are okay now, two people had to be hospitalized. To prevent any such incident from happening again, we have hidden five golden tickets at the bottom of your seats. All you have to do is reach down and feel at the bottom of your seat. If you find the ticket, you can come on stage right now, and I will escort you to meet Troy. To everyone else, I'm sorry, but we have posted security outside to dissipate any crowds. This had to be done for your safety."
Benji's heart started pounding in his chest wildly as he bent down and felt for anything below his seat, as most people in the hall were doing at the moment. He was crestfallen when he came up blank. It was even worse when a blonde girl of around 13-14 ran up the stage with a golden ticket. Then an older boy of 19-20, a middle-aged woman, and then a man in his mid-forties. All of them had excitement clear in their eyes.
"Son," his mother called out quietly. Benji looked up at her and was amazed to see that she was holding one of the golden tickets. "Take it," she offered. He didn't have to be told twice as he gently clutched onto the said ticket. "Go to the stage. We'll wait for you here."
Benji could only nod in a daze as he got up and ran up the stage. He was the last person to go up, finishing the five lucky people who would meet Troy tonight, personally.
"And we have our five lucky winners," the man announced. "We thank you all for understanding why we had to take this step." Then he turned to the five of them and spoke without a mic, "Come on. Let's go."
Everything happened so quickly in the next few minutes that Benji couldn't believe what was happening. He was escorted backstage where he witnessed the chaos of a Broadway theater in person. While everything on stage was meticulously managed, that wasn't the case when so many props, costumes, and set decorations were being packed up for the day. It hadn't occurred to him exactly what went into making a big musical like [Billy Elliot]. And now that he had seen it, some of the mystery and magic had waned.
The man who had announced the meeting with Troy deftly moved backstage as if it was an everyday occurrence. After a couple of minutes, he stood in front of a door with a placard on it that had "Troy Armitage" written in a stylized font. The man then turned to the five of them and asked, "Is there any other actor in the cast that you want to meet instead of Troy?"
Benji shook his head immediately. Why would he meet anyone else but his idol?
"Haydn Gwynne," the oldest man in the group said excitedly. "I have seen her perform many times and I want to meet her."
The announcer nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Second door to your left. Go and knock and see if she's available." The older man nodded once and went down the hall.
"Alright then," the announcer turned to the remaining four people again. "Here are some rules for meeting Troy. Be polite. Don't ask personal questions. If he says no to something, don't insist on it. And most importantly, have fun." Then he smiled before knocking on the door.
"Come in," came a young voice from within the room. A voice Benji recognized immediately. As the door opened and the five of them walked inside the dressing room, Benji stopped in his tracks as he saw Troy live in front of him. He was wearing a pair of casual tan trousers and a black T-shirt. His black hair had been combed back, and his green eyes curiously took in all of them. A full grin was present on his face as he got up from his seat and came forth before shaking hands with all of them one by one.
"Thank you for seeing the show," Troy said with a genial smile on his face as he shook hands with Benji, who was moving on auto-pilot by now.
"You're welcome," Benji said without realizing what he had said. He immediately regretted saying anything at all. Why couldn't he just stay quiet? Now Troy would definitely think he's some weirdo.
Contrary to what he was expecting, Troy laughed at Benji's quip, put a hand on his shoulder as if they had known each other for years, and said, "I like you, mate. Come, have a seat everyone, and tell me what your names are."
It was then that Benji realized there were six seats in the room, of which Troy offered one to everyone first. When everyone was seated, then only he took a seat. The announcer left the room, leaving Troy with four of his fans, including Benji, who was close to hyperventilating. Troy must have sensed something because he put a hand on Benji's shoulder again and said, "Calm down, dude. I'm just a human, like everyone else. Come on, take a deep breath."
Benji followed the advice and found that it did help in calming him down. "Thanks," he murmured.
"No problem," Troy said. "What's your name?"
"Benji Cooper," Benji said.
Then Troy turned to the other three and asked for their names, who happened to be Emily (13), Elizabeth (39), and Jeremy (20).
Troy was carefully looking at Emily for a few moments before saying, "Say, Emily. Are you an actress? I feel like I have seen you in the movies."
Emily looked down at her hands in her lap shyly before shaking her head, "No, but I want to be an actress. You have inspired me a lot."
"What's your full name?" He asked curiously.
"Emily Stone," came the prompt reply.
"Then I can't wait to work with you, Emily Stone," Troy grinned at the girl, who looked awestruck hearing those words. "I have a feeling that one day you will become a big actress. In fact, here." Troy fished around in his pocket and brought forth a few cards that he handed out to each of them. "If you have any questions regarding your career, or anything else, you can shoot me an email there. Just don't spread it around, or I won't be able to reply if I receive too many emails."
"Thanks, but I don't need it," the older woman, Elizabeth, returned his card back to Troy. "I don't use the internet. Just wanted to meet you and tell you how good of a performance you gave today. In fact, if you can give me an autograph for my daughter, I'll be on my way because my husband is waiting outside."
"Thank you, Elizabeth," Troy smiled sincerely. "I can do you one better than an autograph." He got up and walked over to a table and picked up a Polaroid camera. "Let's take a photo instead. Jeremy, will you take a photo of us?" Troy handed the camera to the 20-year-old, who had mostly been silent after his introduction, but he took the photograph as asked. While the photo was being printed, Troy also took individual photos with the other three fans and signed them all.
After Elizabeth left, the four talked for quite some time. Mostly it was Emily, Troy, and Benji who spoke with each other. Jeremy, sensing the disconnect, left on his own after a few minutes. Benji talked a lot about how he started taking dance lessons because of Troy, and how much Troy had made him love the movies. And then it was time for Benji to leave. He didn't want to, but he had to. He had come to Troy's dressing room around half an hour ago, and he hadn't even realized that he was talking to one of the biggest superstars of present times. Troy was so down-to-earth and humble that he seemed like any other normal guy their age. He was so caring that Benji felt as if he was the most important person in the world when he was talking to Troy. And now he had Troy's email as well. As he walked out of Troy's dressing room towards his parents, he couldn't help but think about what he would say in his first fan mail.