Broadway Pit Musician Ethyl Will to Try Her Luck on TV's "Millionaire"

By Andrew Gans
25 Mar 2009

Ethyl Will, a Broadway pit musician who lives in Haworth, NJ, will be a contestant on an upcoming episode of the syndicated game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Will, who has played piano and/or synthesizer for such Broadway musicals as Spamalot, Chicago and The Phantom of the Opera, will test her trivia skills on the March 30 and 31 broadcasts of the hit series.

Hosted by Meredith Vieira, "Millionaire" airs in the New York metropolitan area on WABC-TV Channel 7 at 12:30 PM; check local listings.

This season "Millionaire" introduced the "Ask the Expert" lifeline, which, according to press notes, "enables contestants to connect with a pre-determined 'Expert' via a live face-to-face Skype video call on any question past the $1,000 level." Expert for March 30-April 3 shows is Joel Stein, Time Magazine contributor and LA Times columnist.

Contestant Will won $20,000 30 years ago on TV's "Pyramid" game show. Will decided to audition for "Millionaire" after the Broadway show she was working on closed following mixed reviews. She is currently working as a substitute musician.

Will was allowed to have three people on stand-by to serve as potential "Phone A Friends" for the show. She chose her ex-husband (Jim Pugh, a professor of Trombone at the University of Illinois, from Mahomet, IL); her brother-in-law (Mark Will-Weber, a creative non-fiction writer from Bethlehem, PA) and her friend (Dave Mancini, a broker from Elmont, NY).

Ethyl Will on "Millionaire."

Ethyl Will on "Millionaire."

photo by ABC