MARBLEHEAD — Police Sgt. Nicholas Economou will take center stage at the North Shore Music Theatre Saturday in “Working,” the musical.
The Marblehead native discovered his love for theatre after college when the town celebrated its bicentennial anniversary with a play by Marblehead Little Theatre.
“A good friend of mine who I worked with was very active and very talented and I had seen him perform and wondered if I could do it,” said Economou, who has been with the Marblehead Police Department for more than three decades and is assigned to the Court Prosecutors Office. “I wondered if I had the guts.”
He nervously auditioned for his first show and soon learned he could have a passion for police work and performing.
“They’re very different,” he said. “One is a very different discipline than the other. But I enjoy both of them. I suppose in both you’re playing a role, depending on what you’re dealing with.”
Economou’s favorite show was “Fiddler on the Roof.” He played the lead character three times.
“It’s a great show about family and traditions,” he said. “If somebody asked me to do it again tomorrow, I would.”
This weekend he will perform with Voices of Hope, a nonprofit that combines a passion for the performing arts with a desire to fight cancer.
Since 2009, the organization has donated more than $600,000 to cancer research, and more than $350,000 to Termeer Center for targeted therapies at Massachusetts General Hospital’s cancer center.
“Working” is a musical that features often under-appreciated people who we encounter everyday: school teachers, waitresses, grocery store clerks, or masons, and presents a different look at their seemingly humdrum lives.
It is based on Studs Terkel’s 1974 best-selling book of interviews with American workers and features new songs by Tony Award-winning “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and by Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor.
Today’s event will begin with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 7 p.m. in the theatre lobby, followed by the performance at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $75.
