Antsy, he waits for his cue. He appears on the stage, the spotlight catching his every movement. He is in the moment. He is no longer senior Ben Lutz; He is now Joseph.

Lutz was chosen to play Joseph, the lead role, in this year’s musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

“I love anything about a stage,” Lutz said. “Being on stage singing and portraying important themes of a show is very powerful.”

His talent is, in one word, indescribable. Director Rita McLary was left speechless in trying to describe his skills.

“There are tons of kids that are talented and Ben is one of them, but it’s really hard to encapsulate his talent and box it in,” McLary said.

His secret is simple; he becomes who he is told to play. His deep character analysis causes stage fright to fade, and each character to come to life.

“If you know your character inside and out, then you can react to literally anything that happens,” Lutz said. “Because of this, there is nothing that can happen on stage to cause your character to falter.”

This talent has inspired him to star in three full musicals. While his talent in performing is impeccable, he has focused on more than just the lead roles. He has worked as a student director and a techie working with light and design.

Lutz was the state champion in prop design and was on the second-place world team at this year’s summer thespian competition for technical arts. McLary has worked with Lutz through all of it.

“He has the ability to as nuances to his roles that many high schooler’s are not able to do,” McLary said. “He is one of those rare individuals that is talented both in the on stage aspect and the off stage aspect.”

After his brother introduced him to the world of both onstage and off stage work, he dove head first into creating the persona in wanted in the drama world.

“Observation and a growth mindset has helped me become a better actor, techie, and person,” Lutz said.
“After being in so many shows watching the performers that are better than me, I picked up a few things. The most important thing is that I wasn’t afraid of failure. I knew that I would make poor character choices, but I was ready and willing to learn from them. I attribute a lot of my progress to that humility.”

Lutz has blossomed in the arts, causing him to pursue a career in both on and off stage work.

“I have an affinity for both technical and on stage work, and will likely go into technical work which in turn would help fund performance work,” Lutz said.

Whether it’s being backstage, up in the sound booth, or out on the stage, Lutz’s heart belongs to the theater.

“Everything is fun when it is about theater,” Lutz said.