Home - an Adopted By Jonathan Groff Story

3: Iris

His eyes light up as he grabs my hand. "Here, come this way. Everyone is on the stage at the moment since people haven't gone to their seats yet, so I'll introduce you to them now while they're all there."

We reach the stage, and the first thing I notice is the amount of entrances onto it. The set looks absolutely amazing. Lin takes a couple steps ahead of me when we reach the stage, and I have to take a second to collect myself. This has been my dream since I was a kid- to stand on a Broadway stage. Even though I'm not even performing, standing here is so surreal. I snap out of my trance and turn my attention back to those on the stage.

Lin clears his throat, and the group of people in front of me also dressed in clothes similar to him turn towards us.

"Sorry I had to leave for a second, but I have a small surprise. She's really been all I've talked to you about, but this is Iris!" He introduces me. There's a chorus of greetings sent my way and I shyly wave as Lin pulls me into a small side hug, walking me towards the group.

I greet and get welcoming hugs from Chris, Oak, and Daveed. I've spent a solid 30 seconds talking with Renée and Philippa and I can already tell I'm going to be very good friends with them. When Lin leads me to Jasmine and Anthony, he has to get them to stop their flirting session before I get hugs from the both of them and we exchange kind words. I can tell there is something going on between them.

When I get to the ensemble, I quickly recognize Jon Rua. "Hi everyone," I say. They all greet me back with enthusiasm before slowly returning to their conversations. I step away from Lin for a quick second as I tap Jon on the shoulder.

As he sees me, his face lights up.
"Iris! Hi, how are ya?" He asks with a smile.

I respond "I'm doing very well, thank you. I just, I recognized you from In The Heights, and thought I would let you know how amazing you were in it and how happy I am to meet you!"

His expression shifts to one of gratitude as he states with a small chuckle. "Wow, that means a lot! I'm happy to hear I made such a good impression that you still remember that from so long ago!" He looks at the person he had just been talking to, points at them lightly and continues, "Have you met Thayne?"

Thayne steps forward and reaches out a hand for me to shake. I take it with a smile. His personality is already so vibrant, I can tell I'm gonna like this guy.

"Hey there kiddo, I'm Thayne! I'm so excited that you're here to watch!" He says animatedly.

With a giggle I respond "I am too! All of you are gonna do so well, I can already tell." I see Lin looking around for something or someone out of the corner of my eye and tell the two I just met "I have to go, but I hope that we have more time to talk later!" I wave a quick goodbye, and they wave back as they start conversing again with the rest of the ensemble.

Looking around, you can tell everyone is a little bit nervous, but at the same time so prepared. This has been in the making for so long, I'm so glad that myself and the rest of the world will finally get to see it. When I make it to Lin, he spots me and tells me,
"You know, I was very excited for you to meet King George. He was the only person that I hadn't told about you yet because he's been working on another musical, but he's probably just getting ready." He shakes it off and drags me towards the pit where a curly head of hair is visible. Although I'm still slightly confused at the choice of calling the missing guy by his characters name, I admire the dedication.

I recognize the man with curly hair as Alex Lacamoire, and he introduces himself as such.
"Are you interested in being in the theatre world at all?" He asks. I quickly shoot a look at Lin who is standing there, arms crossed with a small smirk on his face. Turning back to Alex, I explain,