An article in Sunday’s edition of the Pittsburg Tribine-Review includes an interesting article titled “Triple threat,” about Broadway performer Jerad Bortz. It begins:
He’s always been a performer. As a 6- and 7-year-old at home, in Latrobe, he would dance and sing his way out of the shower. Today, Jerad Bortz is doing what he did way back then, only on Broadway.
A principal understudy in the smash hit “Wicked,” Bortz arrived at the Gershwin Theater on West 51st Street from “Mamma Mia,” another of the Great White Way’s bright lights.
Appearing on a recent cover of Dance Spirit magazine, the Greater Latrobe High School graduate was hailed as one of six young “triple threat” performers who are living their dream of making it in New York.
Triple threat?
Singing. Dancing. Acting.
Bortz, 26, was a natural from the time he walked on stage, said John Noble, a Greensburg attorney whose passion is the theater. In addition to starring in amateur productions, Noble founded “Night of the Stars” to showcase high school talent.
The first “Night of the Stars” nine years ago featured Bortz in the role of Broadway legend George M. Cohan in the musical “George M.”
“It gives me chills just to think about it,” Noble said.
“There are a lot of talented kids,” Noble continued. “The difference with Jerad is that his talent continued to grow and expand.”
And later in the article comes this story:
One day, in school, Bortz asked Cavanaugh to drop by the band room.
Cavanaugh’s English class had been studying the Ayn Rand novel “Anthem,” a story of rediscovered individuality in a world of mass conformity. The saga fired Bortz’s imagination, so much so that he wrote a song based on the novel, complete with orchestration.
Waiting for Cavanaugh in the band room was the high school band, Bortz and two other singers. Together, they performed Bortz’s composition for their teacher.
See the full article to learn more about Bortz.