Helping with a little help from her friends
Co-stars from ‘The Voice’ more than willing to contribute to Emily Luther scholarship show
WOONSOCKET — Deciding to put on a benefit show is always a noble goal, but for Emily Luther making sure it is a great show is even better.
And thanks to her recent role on NBC’s season 13 of the popular talent show “The Voice,” Luther has some good friends to help her make that happen, as she did Friday on stage at Woonsocket High School.
Luther, a 2010 graduate of the school, hosted her “Emily Luther Unplugged” scholarship benefit in the
high school auditorium with fellow “The Voice” season 13 performers Jon Mero of Atlanta, Gary Carpentier of New Jersey and Stephan Marcellus. Marcellus, up from New York City, even brought along his guitar player, Christian Vintage, to help out.
The show prepared by the performers included a mix of musical theater songs, pop music and originals... and, of course, their favorites performed during “The Voice” competition shows.
Luther’s set list included ‘Summertime’ and ‘Glitter in the Air,’ and other songs she performed during her appearances on “The Voice” last fall.
“This is a big production,” Luther said while settling in for a practice session on the stage with her Voice peers Friday afternoon.
“With all the bad weather we’ve had (Friday), I promise it will be well worth the audience’s time,” Luther said.
“I’m the crazy one,” Luther said, while acknowledging planning a local show takes a lot more effort than people might think, even with her connections to national entertainment productions.
Luther noted that it was her former theater arts teacher, Jen Maiello, who had approached her about doing her own show at the school some time ago and planted the seed for Friday’s benefit.
“When ‘The Voice’ happened, I decided that I wanted to give back and I also wanted to be in a place that was important to me,” she said, adding that going back home to the stage at Woonsocket High School was the perfect solution.
Luther had performed on the stage while a student of Maiello’s, and was Roxie in the school’s production of ‘Chicago,’ and Millie in ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’ which were put on as two of the school’s big musicals.
Luther estimates she has performed on the high school’s stage more than 20 times for different productions and music program events. She also performed with the Encore Repertory Theatre and Theatre Works during her school performance years.
That gave Friday’s show a bit of local pride as she welcomed her Voice friends to the school.
“When I decided I wanted to give back, I wanted that to be in a place that was special to me,” she said.
She also wanted the show to be a memorable one and that is where her “The Voice” crew stepped in.
“I called my friends from ‘The Voice’ and asked them if they would help and they said ‘whatever you need,’” Luther said. “I’m so blessed (by the support).”
As the group got ready to warm up for the show Friday afternoon, Marcellus said there was never any question about supporting Luther’s benefit show.
Marcellus attended Bowie State University in Maryland and graduated with a degree in child and adolescence studies. “So education is important to me and here we are giving kids support to continue their education and their dreams and that is amazing,” he said. “So when she asked, I said ‘hell yeah.’”
Also helping Luther on Friday was Woonsocket High School Band Director Christopher Depot, members of the school’s student stage crew, Maiello and several of her students in the theatre arts. That, of course, is what a Villa Novan can count on when they show up to help their school community with a special contribution and notable thank you.