Members of the national touring company of Wicked will perform with Palo Alto and Westmont High School students at 7 p.m. on June 4 in the Haymarket Theatre. 

The event, Making Magic/Defying Gravity, benefits the Board of Directors Scholarship Fund at the Educational Theatre Association.

Producers Gai Jones and Krista Elhai — board members of the EdTA — approached Paly theater teacher Kathleen Woods and Jeff Bengford from Westmont High School about hosting the scholarship event, according to Woods.

“Paly’s Thespian Troupe 909 and Westmont’s thespian troupe are both very active on the state level,” Woods said. 

The students will perform numbers from popular musicals, including Bye Bye Birdie, Merrily We Roll Along, Hairspray and Footloose, together with the Wicked actors, according to senior Annalise Wedemeyer.

Sophomore Sarah Ohlson and seniors Zachary Freier-Harrison and Wedemeyer were chosen to represent Paly.  

“Ms. [Monica] Covitt and [accompanist] Todd Billingsley worked with the singers to prepare them and Ms. Covitt and I listened to the auditions and chose the participants,” Woods said. “The singers are all very talented and professional in their approach.”

Tickets to the event are $15 at the online at www.schooltheatre.org/support or at door. There will be a question and answer session and reception following the performance for all ticket holders, according to Woods.