Just a few years ago, Greg Nobile was a kid was putting on “Lemonade Gang” fundraising cabarets at Branford’s Owenego Inn. On Sept. 24, the 22 year-old, Tony-Awarding winning Broadway producer and Branford native helps bring creators and cast of Broadway-bound “Witness Uganda” to the Owenego to share the music, discuss the show and spread its message of uniting through music to help others.

“Very early on, this show resonated with me on a deep level,” said Nobile of the show, which was born from its creators’ notion of performing to raise funds to assist Project Uganda.

Together with his talented friend, Ryan Bloomquist, Nobile founded the Lemonade Gang when the two were still in grade school. Their annual shows went on to raise tens of thousands to fight childhood diseases.

Nobile and Jana Shea of Branford, who together lead Broadway production company Seaview Productions (Branford and New York), are sponsoring the free evening at the Owenego on Sept. 24, in collaboration with non-profit, Stony Creek-based Legacy Theatre. Nobile, who is also Legacy’s Managing Director, is suggesting a “…pay what you can” ticket donation to benefit the local non-profit.

Recently written up in The New York Times as the young “Up and Comer” among some of the producers of 2014 Tony Award-winning Best Musical “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder,” Nobile and Seaview Productions’ Broadway credits also include “Of Mice and Men” (starring James Franco and Chris O’Dowd), “It’s Only a Play” (starring Nathan Lane and Matthews Broderick) and the upcoming revival of “Side Show.” Seaview Productions is also one of the producers bringing “Witness Uganda” to Broadway, anticipated for fall 2015.

Nobile said the one-night only Branford performance features an intimate concert of music from “Witness Uganda” and special post-show discussion with the cast and creators. Directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, “Witness Uganda” debuted in Feb. 2014 with a sold-out limited run at Cambridge’s American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.).

“This is the original cast from Boston,” Nobile told The Sound. “We’re bringing four cast members, one or two instrumentalists and the show’s two writers for about an hour-long performance where they’ll walk through how they created the show and sing songs from show. They opened for (the band) Fun's show in Chicago and I begged the boys, ‘… you have to come to Branford.’”

Show creators Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould shared in a statement, “…we are so excited to be working with Greg Nobile and Jana Shea to be bringing our concert to Branford in support of Legacy Theatre. As writers, we deeply understand the importance of a strong local theater scene that is committed to de veloping new works. If it were not for theaters across the country like Legacy, ‘Witness Uganda’ would not be on its way to Broadway right now.”

Nobile said the importance of bringing this experience to town can’t be underestimated for many reasons. There is the unique philosophy of the show, which began as a 30 minute awareness-raising performance to help fund the education of orphans like those Matthews first met as an aid worker in Uganda. It’s also a chance to show the shoreline what Legacy Theatre can offer.

“This sort of artistic collaboration between the commercial theater world and the nonprofit theater world is exactly why I am at Legacy,” said Nobile. “Our proximity alone to the New York theater scene allows for us to work and collaborate with the highest caliber of performers in the business. Community is at the root of both Seaview and Legacy’s mission, and we are so thrilled to be able to bring this extraordinary performance to Branford as an example of what’s to come at Legacy Theatre.”

The Legacy is currently swirled in controversy as it nears completion of renovations to the former Puppet House Theatre in Stony Creek and heads towards opening its doors. Members of the Stony Creek Association are taking the non-profit to task over a recent fit-out approval from the town which residents say will bring more than just theatre productions and artistic educational opportunities to the building, as it includes the ability to rent the venue for celebrations and other functions. A public hearing is set for Sept. 16 with the Branford Zoning Board of Appeals (see "Creekers Will Be Heard Sept. 16" http://bit.ly/1lVQaxx).

While that question dangles, the Legacy’s “Artists Cottage” next door to the theatre building is being put to use. Since Sept. 6, it has been housing the first residency of two writers who will workshop their creation during free programming offered through the Legacy, said Nobile.

“They’ve written for shows and they’re working on a brand-new musical,” said Nobile. “I’m really excited to show the community at large the impact of developing new work, and the importance of bringing it to Branford. We could have the next Witness Uganda coming out Branford!”

Nobile said the on-going residency program will “open the doors” on the process for the public to experience first-hand.

“We want to have shows on Thursday nights to show what’s been worked on over the week. In exchange for (residency) we have them open the doors up on the process so the public can see what’s been happening behind these doors for a week. They’re going to be the roughest cut of brand new works; so they’ll have friends -- many Tony Award winners -- and their other professional colleagues come to Branford, work-shopping work that’s never been heard before. The intent on opening this process and making it a free program from Branford is very important. Developing new work is at the core of what we’re doing at Legacy; developing and nurturing relationships of artists like Matt and Griffin, who are changing theatre.”

“Witness Uganda” follows the true story of Matthews’ journey as a struggling artist who sought solace in his church choir but was “outed” instead; and decides to become a mission worker in Uganda. There, an experience with a corrupt official puts him on the path to “adopting” a group of orphans on his own, teaching them what he could as he navigated what a press release described as “… the delicate balance between aid work and social interference, gay rights in Uganda, and the evolving responsibility of Americans abroad.”

“The first group of orphans that approached him said, ‘…we want to go to school,’ that’s all they wanted,” said Nobile. “In Uganda, school’s not free, at any level. So here’s this actor from New York who had no money and no means, and he started teaching them classes about Shakespeare and culture and New York and opportunities and living the American dream.”

Matthews returned to New York to fundraise for what he’d dubbed Uganda Project when he met Gould, an artist who was doing aid work in the city. The two collaborated to raise funds to assist with the education of six Ugandan orphans. Then, with the economic shut down of 2008, Nobile said, “…the funding dropped out.” Matthews and Gould considered writing a musical to raise money, but thought it would never fly. At one point, “…Matt and Griffin went on a trip…and Griffin was ranting about the complexities of helping people and raising money, and Matt secretly hit record – and that become the opening number.”

Gould set the rant to music; and they began collaborating on more songs until they’d developed a 30-minute show they called “Witness Uganda.” The fundraising performances began drawing attention and eventually caught the ear of Broadway legend Steven Schwartz (Pippin, Wicked).

“Steven Schwartz saw it and said if you write a book on that, you will change the world of musicals,” recounts Nobile. “When the God of musical theatre tells you that, you go and you write a musical!”

Schwartz showed the finished book to director Paulus, who “…fell in love with it,” said Nobile. “She’s dynamite on Broadway. This is going to be the next big Broadway hit, and it will be changing the world at the same time.”

True to the vision of Matthews and Gould, proceeds from “Witness Uganda” help support “Project Uganda.”

“In the lobby at the (A.R.T.) show we sold T-shirts and raised $50,000 to put 10 kids through school,” said Nobile. “This show will be a giving machine for years to come. The platform of this show, when it opens on Broadway, is going to be so great that we are putting things in place now that will have support from it like Uganda Project has. That’s never been done before. The shake-up that’s going to happen in New York is exhilarating.”

“Witness Uganda” won the 2014 Richard Rogers Award for Musical Theater. Huffington Post wrote of the show, “Witness Uganda is destined to be a Broadway hit, and it’s also making the world a better place.”

“We’re super excited about it coming to Branford,” said Nobile. “Through everything the Legacy is going through right now, this is such an important reminder of what we’re fighting for. This is the stuff that Branford is going to be put on the map for. Broadway performers that are at least going to be Tony-nominated are going to be in Branford for an intimate night of a free musical – that’s the stuff. People who want to support that are reserving tickets by the tens. It’s bringing the community together in a way we don’t otherwise have the ability to do. That’s what theatre does.”

The one-night-only performance of “Witness Uganda” is Sept. 24 at the Owenego Inn & Beach Club in Branford, 40 Linden Ave. Doors will open at 6 p.m.; concert begins at 7 p.m.. Admission is a “pay what you can” contribution to the non-profit Legacy Theatre. Seating is extremely limited and reservations are required. For tickets, call (212) 247-0537 or visit www.legacytheatrect.org For more information on “Witness Uganda” visit www.witnessuganda.com