BURBANK : Choir Group Staging a Benefit Musical

Choir singers at John Burroughs High School have to struggle for their art.

“It’s just so difficult, pressure-wise, to know you have a show coming up and you don’t have the money for it,” said Patrick Shearer, a member of the chamber choir, who will be a junior. “Usually, we have a competition a week. Sometimes we have to turn it down because we don’t have enough money to pay for a bus.”

Nine members of the chamber choir, including some recent graduates, plan to stage the musical “Godspell” at the Starlight Amphitheater in Burbank Sept. 10 and 11 to raise money for the school’s music program. The problem is that to raise money, they need money.

The choir needs to raise $2,500 to $3,500 to pay for security, insurance, equipment and licensing to put on “Godspell.” They have raised $1,300 so far.

“We think it would be a lot easier if we could raise our money now,” Shearer said. The choir usually raises its money throughout the year selling candy, wrapping paper, “anything we can get our hands on,” Shearer said. Carwashes and other special events also help.

Each member pays for the costumes, either a tuxedo or dress, worn continually in competition after competition.

“They become a second skin to us because we’re in them so often,” Shearer said. The dresses are handmade. But John Burroughs, which competes against schools with professionally made costumes, always finishes somewhere in the top five, Shearer said.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3.50 for senior citizens and students. A two-night audience of 2,500 people “would fund us for pretty much the whole year,” Shearer said.