Ed. Note: The following article is a news release.

Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez will return to her hometown of Santa Clarita on Friday and Saturday to stage several singing and acting workshops for local high school students.

Gonzalez is an American actress and singer, best known for playing the roles of Elphaba and Nina Rosario in the Broadway musicals, “Wicked” and “In the Heights.”

Mandy Gonzalez as Elphaba in “Wicked.”

Drama and choir students from Valencia High School and Saugus High School will be participating in this two-day workshop.

The workshop is run by Gonzalez and several other professional Broadway performers that will culminate in a Broadway-type production to be staged at Valencia High School on Saturday night at 7 p.m. and then again at 8:30 p.m.

The student performers will go through a series of sessions as if they are company members of a Broadway show so Gonzalez can help them with their singing and dancing techniques.

Charity, volunteerism and activism are principles embedded deep in the theater community so it is no coincidence that Gonzalez, a former Saugus High graduate wants to give back and nourish the future performers of tomorrow.

“For me, to seek out opportunities where I can say thank you is really important,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez can be heard on the Original Broadway cast recording of In the Heights and in the Disney animated film Mulan 2.