Before RCC student Andi sang “Quiet,” Scott Barnhardt had a question: On a scale of one to 10, how scared was she to perform it?

“Yes,” she answered.

Barnhardt offered reassurance, then made a deal. She would sing the song that scared her, and he would follow with one that scared him.

It was a small exchange, but it captured much of what “Broadway at RCC” brought to the Landis Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Oct. 3. Following two weeks of working with Riverside City College’s musical theater students, Barnhardt joined them for an afternoon of songs, stories and encouragement, sharing the stage as both a Broadway performer and an educator willing to take the same risks he asked of them.

His approach came down to three priorities: preparation, boldness and joy.

He put that philosophy into practice from the opening number, “What Do I Need With Love” from “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” finding an unexpected scene partner in a mannequin on the stage’s “West Side Story” set. The playful encounter became an example of the big choices he had encouraged students to make during their time together.

The audience, largely made up of the performers’ friends and family, supplied plenty of enthusiasm. Onstage, the program moved through romantic uncertainty, ambition, heartbreak and comedy, giving students opportunities to inhabit different characters and emotional situations.

Madi’s “History of Wrong Guys,” Lily’s “Little Miss Perfect” and Waleska’s “Astonishing” were among the first-act selections. “Dentist!” brought a detour into the gleeful menace of “Little Shop of Horrors,” prompting Barnhardt’s dry response: “Subtlety, always subtlety.”

Most of the material came from the students themselves. Barnhardt explained that they had arrived at their initial auditions with songs already selected, and he praised both their preparation and their knowledge of musical theater. Their work together included finding ways to use the full stage and exploring how something as simple as a chair could become part of the storytelling.

His own career supplied another thread through the afternoon. Barnhardt recalled making his Broadway debut in Deaf West’s “Big River” and joining the original company of “The Book of Mormon,” connecting those experiences to selections performed by the students.

Josh and Mikey took on “You and Me, but Mostly Me” from “The Book of Mormon.” Isabel, Pearl and Julia performed “You Oughta Be Here With Me” from “Big River,” a song Barnhardt said none of the three had known before their work together.

For The Riverside Scene, the afternoon also offered a familiar face in a new setting. Wesley Maradiaga, whom we have covered in productions with several local community and youth theater groups, performed “What Makes a Man.” It marked the first time our coverage had followed a young performer from youth theater into college theater, giving a personal connection to Barnhardt’s larger message about helping the next generation move forward.

That message became explicit in the second act, when Barnhardt spoke about the value of arts education beyond a career in entertainment. Some students might reach Broadway, he said. Others might become teachers, health care professionals or lawyers. The adaptability, persistence and resilience developed through theater would travel with them.

He then invited Joseph to join him for a duet combining “Proud of Your Boy” and “Go the Distance,” introducing their performance as a way of passing the torch.

The afternoon also looked ahead to RCC’s upcoming production of “West Side Story.” A preview of “Cool” closed the first act, with Barnhardt urging the audience to return for the full production.

By the time the cast gathered for “Rainbow Connection,” the concert had brought his Broadway stories and the students’ own ambitions onto the same stage. Barnhardt closed with Dolly Parton’s “Wildflowers,” introducing his favorite Parton song as an expression of the artist’s desire to find a place to grow.

Before singing, he left the students with an invitation: If they needed his help as their journeys continued, they only had to reach out.

After two weeks together, the concert was ending. The offer of mentorship was not.