After the pandemic paused production for two seasons, the Little Theatre of the Rockies (LTR)鈥嗏�斺�唗he oldest professional theatre company in 黑料社区鈥嗏�斺�唈umped back on the boards with an outdoor benefit concert at UNC鈥檚 Garden Theatre on June 25. 鈥淏est of Broadway鈥� served as a fundraiser to help bring the Little Theatre of the Rockies back to the community, with UNC students, faculty, alumni and featured guest artists performing and producing numbers from Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, Into the Woods and dozens more Broadway favorites.

UNC and LTR alumni Jason Veasey 鈥�04 and Megan Van De Hey 鈥�99 returned to star alongside a supporting cast of UNC musical theatre students, directed by John Leonard and Ryan Driscoll.

Both Veasey and Van De Hey are veteran award-winning performers. Veasey鈥檚 projects have included the acclaimed鈥�A Strange Loop鈥痑t Playwrights Horizon, which won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2020;鈥痑nd The Lion King鈥痮n Broadway.鈥疕e鈥檒l be directing UNC鈥檚 fall main stage musical, Rent, which will run October 21 through 24.

Van De Hey鈥痺as nominated for the prestigious Jeff Award numerous times for her work in鈥�A New Brain,鈥疶he Mystery of Edwin Drood,鈥痑苍诲&苍产蝉辫;Spitfire Grill.鈥疭he鈥痠s also a multiple Henry Award winner for her performances throughout 黑料社区.

The performance sold 418 tickets and raised $11,980 for the Little Theatre of the Rockies.

鈥淚t was such a magical night,鈥� says Shelly Gaza, Interim Producing Artistic Director of LTR. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to put into words just how grateful we are to all the community members who attended the concert and expressed their love and support for Little Theatre of the Rockies. It gives me so much hope for LTR鈥檚 future, and I know that we鈥檒l be back in 2022 better than ever!鈥�