“W.H. Auden’s famous line about the relative ineffectuality of art … is no doubt correct when it comes to legislative action. But artists have another power, no less far-reaching for being unseen and immeasurable — the ability to broaden our sensibility by inviting us to experience life through another’s eyes.” That’s why the Obamas’ visit to Broadway was particularly apt at a moment when the word “empathy” has the right up in arms.