"I nub da Butz!" (the FAQ).
Norbie is my absolute favorite Roger in Rent, and there are no good web pages about only him. This isn't a good one either, I just felt I needed a small tribute to the best Roger I have ever seen.
Norbert Leo Butz is 31 and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sydney, and their baby daughter, Clara. He grew up in St. Louis and went to Bishop DuBourg High School. Of playing Roger, he says, "When I am up there, I do not think about how sad it is. That would translate into self-pity. I try to think of Roger as a good friend of Jonathan Larson's. Jonathon was a struggling songwriter, like Roger, and I am, too. I try to think about the hope in this role."
Norb's Playbill Bio:
NORBERT LEO BUTZ (Roger) a St. Louis Native, makes his New York and Broadway stage debut in RENT. Regional: four seasons with Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Hamlet, St. Joan, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Balm in Gilead); Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Galileo, The Matchmaker); Hope Summer Rep (Boys Next Door, Man for All Seasons).B.F.A.,Conservatory at Webster University: M.F.A., Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Love and thanks to his wife Sydney, Elizabeth, Mom and Pop, and the crew back home, Michael, thanks for the light. Jonathan, thanks for the candle.
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