Local thespians will belt Broadway showstoppers at a benefit

From “Camelot” to “Spamalot,” the music of the Great White Way will be brought to the stage by a group of local performers next week in “Yet Another Night on Broadway.”

From “Camelot” to “Spamalot,” the music of the Great White Way will be brought to the stage by a group of local performers next week in “Yet Another Night on Broadway.”

The show, to be staged at Bethel Church, is a benefit. After the producers recoup their expenses, they will donate all other proceeds to AHOPE for Children, an organization founded by islander Kathy Olsen and currently helmed by Kathy’s daughter-in-law, Jennifer Olsen.

AHOPE for Children — the acroymn stands for African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace — was founded in 2002 to assist in the funding of a home and hospice for HIV positive children in Ethiopia. Over the years, as lifesaving antiretroviral medications became available, the focus of the charity has expanded to meeting the needs of Ethiopian young people who are long-term survivors of the disease.

The show, directed by Tish Lopez with a team that includes Marita Ericksen as musical director, choreographer Pam Hotchkiss and costumer Betsey Frazee, will star 22 local actors familiar to island audiences, including a group of young performers directed by Ericksen in the Vashon Island Youth Chorus.

David Katz, Louis Mangione and Elizabeth Nye are three of the best known local actors in the show.

They’ll sing songs from smashes such as “Les Miserables,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Camelot,”  “West Side Story” and “The Music Man.”