"No baby, not today."

This photo was a LONG time coming.  As a gay man, I've seen my fair share of Broadway shows, and while Wicked is my favorite I've always loved Buffalo native/hometown hero Michael Bennett's A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls.  I've got both soundtracks on my iPod, know all the words to every song, and have lipsynched to 'One Night Only' in front of the bedroom mirror on more than one occasion.  I've been lucky enough to meet original Dreamgirls Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Holliday, and although my friend's boyfriend was in a production of The Hot Mikado with Loretta Devine in Washington, DC twenty years ago I was too naive at the time to work that connection for an introduction.  Well times have changed, and yesterday I finally met the fabulous Ms. Devine!

And today she politely declined to sign a print of this photo, letting me down with a "No baby, not today" as she arrived for a promotional appearance.  One day only too I guess.