Monday night was an evening in celebration of the life of Michael P. Goz, a Manhasset Alumni and Broadway performer who passed away from a rare form of cancer in 2014. 22 fellow Broadway performers, with a combined 55 Broadway credits in total, shined in Manhasset High School’s auditorium in remembrance of Goz and to raise money for the Michael P. Goz Scholarship for Excellence.

All throughout high school, Michael Goz had a love for music and theater. When he graduated from Manhasset in 1977, he went straight to the University of Michigan on a scholarship for singing. He then made his Broadway debut shortly after with a minor role in “Bajour”. After an understudy role in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Goz secured the role of Tevye for over a year on Broadway. Goz also played the role in the national tour. Goz was the understudy again in the musical “Two by Two” where he ended up filling in for the lead after he broke his ankle. Goz is also known for his work in “Guys and Dolls” and “King David the Musical” on Broadway. Goz’s career continued to TV and movies where he was most popularly known as Captain Murphy on “Sealab 2021” on Cartoon Network.

The evening was a tribute to Michael Goz and his love for music and theater. The evening opened with Manhasset’s very own Symphonic Choir singing the opening piece from “Sweeney Todd.”

Shortly after Symphonic Choir, 21 other performers graced Manhasset High School’s very own stage.

Bobby Conte Thornton was the first up. He is an up and coming artist!

Next up was Laura Dean, who was in the original production of “Fame” on Broadway and is a Drama Desk Award nominee. She sang a new song called the Secret of Happiness from a secret project she is working on!

After a very powerful and beautiful performance from Dean, a little 10 year old walks on stage and blew me off my feet. Her name is Mia Sinclair Jenness and boy is she talented! I couldn’t believe that she was 10 and that she performs as Matilda in “Matilda,” in the national tour! And did I mention, she was also in “Les Miserables” in the national tour? Jenness does a wonderful British accent!

After we thought our hearts were won over by Jenness’ adorableness and killer performance skills, Arielle Jacobs took the stage and won us over even more! She has performed as Nessarose in “Wicked,” and “In the Heights.” She sang the most beautiful song from “Anastasia,” called Journey to the Past. It was such a sweet song! (Go listen to it on Youtube!!)

Bill Nolte was next up in the hot seat; he has been in 11 Broadway shows. And oh what a voice he has!

Katrina Lenk was another amazing performer. She is in “Once” currently, and I highly recommend the show! It is such a sweet story and has such amazing music!

Guess what show is coming to Broadway? “Mr. Spongebob the Musical!” So all you Spongebob fans have to get your tickets ASAP! Curt Buckler and Carlos Lopez are two of Goz’s ex-costars in “Guys and Dolls,” and they are also in the “Mr. Spongebob the Musical!” They put on a funny act, with hats and dancing, lightening up the mood.

We had two stars from “Kinky Boots” grace the Manhasset stage. Mia Gentile and Kevin Smith Kirkwood were both fabulous. Kirkwood had an amazing stage presence and he had some pipes!

The revival of “Spring Awakenings” was represented on Monday night by Katie Boeck who played the guitar and sang along side Alexandrea DeAngelis who signed during the song. “Spring Awakenings” is usually performed with two people per character, one singing the song and one signing the song with sign language.

Rona Figueroa and the “Triple Threat Man” Peter Marx also made appearances Monday night.

Erika Henningsen sang one of my favorite songs from “Les Miserables,” I Dreamed a Dream sung by Fantine. Henningsen was very talented and had just made her Broadway debut in “Les Mis.”

Another performer with amazing pipes was N’Kenge who has been in “Motown The Musical.” She sang Home from her favorite show “The Wiz.” (Fun fact: N’Kenge can speak 11 different languages!)

Michael C. Bernardi is from  “Fiddler on the Roof,” which is the same show that Goz landed the lead in after Bernardi’s father, Herschel Bernardi starred in and then left. This is where you can sing “It’s A Small World After All!!”

Rebecca Pitcher is a 10 year veteran of playing the character Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera,” another one of my favorite shows! Monday nights are when most Broadway shows are closed so all the stars that performed Monday night gave up their day off, but Pitcher was even nice enough to give up her birthday which was on Monday.

Alton Fitzgerald White is known for being Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King.” He has done over 4000 performances of “The Lion King.”

Here is proof that even professionals mess up! Taylor Richardson is Annie on Broadway in “Annie.” She sang the most famous song from the show, Tomorrow, and unfortunately messed up a little bit–coming in a little early during the song–but brushed it off.

We had the pleasure of having a fellow Manhasset town alumni on stage. Robert Cuccioli went to St. Mary’s but lived in Manhasset all of his life. There were some comical boos from the audience when he told us that, but there is nothing wrong with St. Mary’s! He did get a big applause when he said he was from Manhasset! He has been in “Les Mis” and was in the original “Jekyll and Hyde.”

Last but not least was Glory Crampton, a fellow Long Islander. She wasn’t originally suppose to attend this event, but the Zika virus in South America kept her from traveling, so we got lucky and got to hear her beautiful voice as she sang an Italian aria. She has played pretty much every leading lady part on Broadway.

The grand finale was when Symphonic Choir and all the performers got on stage and sang Seasons of Love. It was a really wonderful way to end the night!

Anyone interested in the Michael P. Goz Scholarship for Excellence should contact Melissa Goz Tantillo.