BURBANK : Celebrities to Star in School Fund-Raiser

A cast of celebrities trying to help give performing arts students at Burbank High School a boost have teamed up to stage “Burbank High Goes Hollywood” tonight at 7:30.

“We think we’re going to sell the house,” Burbank High School Principal Keiko Hentell said. Seats in the school’s 1,200-capacity auditorium are selling for $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Featured in the show will be George Takei, Sulu in the original “Star Trek,” actor-comedian Richard Tanner of “Empty Nest” and “The Addams Family” movie, and celebrity impressionist Donna Cherry. The show’s host will be Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie.”

The show will help pay the costs of running a performing arts program, which students usually have to fund from candy sales and donations. The royalties for a musical are about $3,000, not including sets, choreography, and equipment, Hentell said. The Burbank High program is also facing pressing needs for lighting equipment and new curtains, she said.

“Everyone in the community has wanted to see the theater arts program return to its former heyday in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Hentell said.