Student Blog: Catching Up with Next on Stage Winner, Willem Butler

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to talk with Next on Stage College Winner, Willem Butler. Since winning the award in July, Willem, now a junior at Elon University, has kept himself very busy.

Despite the pandemic, Elon University has luckily been able to continue socially distanced in-person classes.

"We continue to practice, we continue to train, and we continue to wait until Broadway opens back up, tours open back up, and stuff like that," said Willem.

With Elon's Grand Night close approaching on March 21st, Willem has been working hard with his friends and fellow music theatre majors to create, film, and edit the performances for the showcase.

"We've all come up with this number that I'm really proud of," he said. "I do a lot of filming at Elon, and my roommate and I were up one night thinking about this number that we were going to do. And we were like, how are we going to showcase the number? And we came up with this in one night, and we shot it in a week. And it's probably one of my favorite projects that I've ever worked on. And it's to Lady Gaga's Bang Bang."

And the best part? It was filmed in a completely COVID safe way.

"It all takes place in Kamal's [Lado, class of 2021] and my apartment and is shot like a one-take, so we would cut and transfer between dancers and singers," Willem said. "The only people that were allowed in the apartment at one time were the people being filmed. So with those cuts, it looks like they're all there. But in reality, it was all very planned out to a tee on what was supposed to happen. So I'm very excited for that to come out."

Willem will also be performing in two numbers. One with his graduating class of 2022, A Night to Remember from High School Musical 3, and another which is a Hadestown mix.

"And then I filmed three other numbers," Willem said. "I filmed a Bruno Mars medley, I helped film a song from Bandstand, and then I helped film our class number."

In addition to being a triple threat, Willem is also very passionate about photography and videography and acknowledges that his award has given him more confidence in both the quality of his work and his performance within his self-tapes.

"Hearing the feedback from the judges about how much they enjoyed watching it because of how it looked and sounded, and how that made their viewing experience better, that helps when I send it out to casting directors and agents and know that there is enjoyability of watching me audition with a 30-second cut," he said.

What's next for Willem?

"I recently auditioned for a theater that I went to two summers ago which is in Montana. I really just want to go to Montana specifically because Montana is doing really well COVID-wise. Plus they have protocols set up for COVID because they still did their season last summer, and so they knew how to handle that," he said. "I auditioned for them, and I got in. So I will be going this summer to Montana and performing as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys."

The pandemic has not stopped Willem Butler from pursuing his dreams. His persistent drive and determination have continued to push him to be Next on Stage.

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