So last night, as I was preparing for the coming week, I had on the finale of American Gladiators.  I have to admit that I was a HUGE fan of this show when I was younger, but I haven’t really gotten into this new round.  But, there’s rarely anything else on, so I’ve caught most of the episodes this season.

Last night was the first time that something struck me: EVERY contender on that show was just oozing sunshine and goodness.  Hulk Hogan, Tatiana Ali, and every contender were just all about good sportsmanship, loving thy neighbor, and never giving up.  Any interview after an event, be it with the winner or the loser, usually ended with some “NEVER GIVE UP” mantra.

And while I typically find this kind of crap intolerable, I realized that I had been surrounding myself with it.

When we did Seussical: the Musical! oh-so-many years ago, I was lucky enough to work with a young man who had a spirit I’d never encountered before.  No matter how dire the situation, and we had some pretty low days as a cast, he was incredibly positive.  Every time he saw you offstage, even if it was just a passing in a tunnel, he’d tap your shoulder and say, “Good job!”.  He was just everything that I had lost in my jaded, cynical self.  And he was an AMAZING performer.  And, because of his good nature, he was well-loved by anyone who met him.

I made a point to learn from him, even though he’s several years my junior, and take that little piece with me.  That, until the final curtain, there was no need to be anything but extremely positive.  If someone had a problem or issue, the only acceptable response was not to commiserate but instead to find a way to fix it. 

And I watched these Gladiators last night and realized that we had become that in our quest to produce our “little show that could”.  We grew to really enjoy eachother’s company, and every problem was met with the incentive to fix it.  We had some gripes, but instead of just beginning a downward spiral of negativity, we just squared our shoulders and decided to make it better.

I guess I’ve said all of that to say this: I am so incredibly proud of everything we’ve done.  Not just in a quality-of-performance aspect, but in how we handled everything.  Lots of laughs, a barrel of monkeys, and a helluva good show are not a bad way to spend a month and a half.

And if it came down to it, I’d gladly do it all again.

New breed of Gladiators, we were.  Same showmanship; less muscle, more spandex.