Dr. Seuss’ book, “Oh The Places You’ll Go!” could be should be the official playbook of Leadership Portland.

In February, several of the 2009 LP cohort got an invitation to attend the final dress rehearsal of Oregon Ballet Theatre’s production of “Lambarena.” It was simply amazing.

First, it was a full dress, so the show we saw was the show paying customers would see. Except they stopped from time to time to make some minor adjustment (they literally practiced taking bows after the performances). There were, maybe, 50 people in the audience (Katy King, my girlfriend, and I decided to dress up), consisting of friends and family members of the troupe.

The show consisted of three very different dances: “Ash,” “The Right of Spring” and “Lambarena,” the last of which combined Bach and African drums. Simply amazing.

During the first intermission, the Leadership Portland group got a backstage tour of the Keller Auditorium. I’m an ex-theater geek, so as you can imagine, it was kid-in-a-candy-shop time for me.

Literally, this is the reason one joins Leadership Portland. To stand in places we otherwise would never, ever get to stand. Oh, the places we’ve gone…