'Wicked' cool moment highlights Rodgers Center study trip to D.C.

The annual study trip to Washington, D.C., presented to prize winners in Chapman University’s
Rodgers Center Holocaust Art and Writing
Contest, is always full of special tours, meetings with dignitaries and unique experiences.

But this year’s group enjoyed a particularly special “Chapman moment” on the last night of the capitol tour when a trip to see a musical ended with a backstage tour and meeting with the two leads in the show, arranged by an alumnus who is a member of the cast.

Thanks to generous supporters, the students were treated to a performance of
Wicked
at
The Kennedy Center
. A student noticed in the program that one of the show’s performers, Napoleon Gladney ‘08, was a Chapman alumnus. As luck would have it, Gladney was also a former student of Marilyn Harran, Ph.D., the founding director of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, and leader of the annual student trip. A message was sent backstage and a post-curtain meeting was set.

The art and writing contest for middle and high school students is co-sponsored by 
The “1939” Club
. 
Panther Productions
accompanied the group this year and is producing an upcoming documentary on the program. Stay tuned!