NewsNorbert Leo Butz and Will Chase Unite for New Jersey High School Theatre BenefitTony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz and Tony nominee Will Chase will look back on their high school theatre experiences in a special one-night-only benefit concert for a New Jersey high school.
By
Adam Hetrick
January 02, 2014
Norbert Leo Butz
The benefit for West Windsor High School South will take place Jan. 11 at 8 PM. All proceeds will benefit the school's theatre department.
Charlie Pollock (9 to 5) will direct and also perform in the concert that will feature Butz (Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can), Chase (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Rent), Becky Gulsvig (Legally Blonde) and Catherine Brunell (Les Misérables). Eugene Gwozdz will musical direct.
"Last Comic Standing" finalist Lori Chase will host the evening. She produces the event along with Marilyn Mangone Stoddard.
Chase said she was motivated to present the concert in the face of rising costs to produce musicals on the high school level. Production costs range $15,000-$20,000 for the school's upcoming production of Grease. "The school and school board are very supportive, and have provided a beautiful state of the art theatre, but ultimately, these productions are self-funded," she said.
"The group assembled are old friends and so the chance to do something together sounded like fun," Chase added. Lori Chase and Will Chase, who were previously married, have a daughter who is actively involved in West Windsor High School South's theatre program.
Audiences can expect songs from Broadway, as well as stories from the performers' own high school theatre experiences. Students from the high school will join the Broadway performers for the finale.
