Lincoln College instructors find former student performing on Broadway         

[March 30, 2007]  Lincoln College instructors Jan Bowers and Tina Nutt thought their recent spring break theater trip to New York would be entertaining but not astonishing. Then they found Lincoln College graduate Stephen Buntrock (LC '88) performing as Gaston in "Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast" at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York.

Bowers said it was a twist of fate to find a former student when they weren't even looking. "Our hotel was next door to the theater, and Tina was looking at the playbills they have hanging up and noticed the name," Bowers said. "She called it to my attention, and I was excited to see a talent from Lincoln College play a major character for a Broadway show."

They visited the box office, which referred them to the stage door, where they left a message. When they returned to the hotel later in the morning, a message from Buntrock was waiting, asking for them to see him after the show. Lincoln natives Starr Hull and Sarah Bailey were also in attendance.

Bowers acknowledged the show was exceptionally good. "After seeing the performance, Tina and I stood up and gave Stephen a loud round of applause," she said. "It was funny because he could see us and pointed to us and mouthed the words, ‘Thanks, I love you guys,' and gestured."

Bowers and Nutt were in tears at that moment because they were so proud of his accomplishments. The group (Bowers, Nutt, Hull and Bailey) met Buntrock after the show to catch up on life's experiences that they had encountered.

Jan Bowers and Tina Nutt react to seeing former Lincoln College student Stephen Buntrock after seeing "Beauty and the Beast" in New York.
[Photo by Starr Hull]

Bowers said she remembers when Buntrock would hang out in her office when he was going to school at LC. "Steve also played basketball with us," she said. "Eric Grunder, several LC students, myself and members of my high school girls basketball team played every weekend. Steve was the goalie for the soccer team, a member of the Lincoln Express Show Choir and was in LC plays. When he performed with the show choir, it was obvious that he was an extremely talented entertainer."

Nutt said she remembers him when he played Danny in LC's 1988 production of "Grease." "When I see Grease I think of Stephen's outstanding performance of Danny, and in my mind, he is Danny," she said.

Nutt said Buntrock will be seen next as the Frankie Avalon character in the upcoming live "Grease: The Musical" production that will cast the winners of NBC's current reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want."

[Text from file received from Lincoln College]