Oscar-winning makeup artist Dave Elsey on what to do when no one will hire you for your dream job. I wish you could hear Dave Elsey’s voice. It’s all kindness and wonder, wrapped up in an accent that makes me long for the two weeks I spent across England in my third year of college, climbing up moors with sheep everywhere, eating jacket potatoes in places called the “Red Lion,” and trying chana masala for the first time in London. Also there was the Monet room, which I stumbled upon while lost, roaming the giant halls of the National Gallery in London, the art museum guarded by giant bronze Lions in Trafalgar Square. I stood in the exact center of the Monet room, equidistant from each painting, and slowly walked closer until my breath touched the paint.

Musician Will Wells on following your obsessions and investing in your craft (Part 2 of 2) We meet outside the Richard Rogers Theater, where Hamilton: An American Musical, a project Will worked on not too long ago, is currently playing to sold out crowds (and a few months later wins 11 Tony’s). Will just finished saying hello to his old friends backstage; he is based in LA. We were originally supposed to do this interview on the phone, but somehow, we both ended up in New York City in the same week. After a whirlwind backstage at the Richard Rogers we set off to the recording studio.

Going behind-the-scenes of Hamilton with musician Will Wells (Part 1 of 2)I can’t believe what just happened. I’m crying on an airplane, face pressed against the glass of the window after 24 hours in New York City for my 29th birthday. I’m half hoping the guy next to me can’t see me crying, and half feeling like “It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to!”

Broadway performer Ashley Brow on what it means to really choose your craft and your dream. My coat is linty. It’s January and it’s one of the first cold nights we’ve had in Florida in years. This coat – my favorite – goes down to my calves, with a long lapel that makes me feel like Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, all dressed up for an ordinary dinner. I try to get as much lint off as possible while I hustle from the parking garage across the street to Orlando’s new performing arts center. I want to look nice, sophisticated; I’m about to meet and interview a Broadway star, someone who originated Mary Poppins in New York and who’s played Belle on the stage, my childhood dream.