Molly Banzhoff, 13, had her final show in one of her favorite places in Concord. The marquis at Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts glowed pink on Monday: ‘Molly B – the Musical.’
Molly Banzhoff, 13, had her final show in one of her favorite places in Concord. The marquis at Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts glowed pink on Monday: ‘Molly B – the Musical.’ Credit: GEOFF FORESTER

Two months ago, the Capitol Center for the Arts hosted a show called “Molly B – the Musical” to memorialize Concord’s Molly Banzhoff,  a lover of song and dance who died from an undetected brain tumor on May 7. She was 13.

Now, through a GoFundMe donation page, Banzhoff’s friends want to preserve her memory in a more concrete way, namely a stone at the Capitol Center with Banzhoff’s name on it.

“This is really important to all of us, especially her family,” Haley Emery, a friend of Banzhoff’s, said in an email to the Monitor. “Molly’s favorite place was the Capitol Center for the Arts, and this will be such an amazing tribute to Molly, but we do need help getting there.”

Emery and her friend, Alyssa Stanley, launched the project and by Tuesday, after three days, had collected $920 toward their goal of $5,000. Emery praised her late friend, saying, “She was the most energetic, enthusiastic and overall amazing person I’ve ever met. She would always know how to lift someone’s spirits when they were feeling down. She just brings so much laughter and joy to everyone.”

That was clear on May 23, when Banzhoff’s name was up in lights on the Capitol Center marquee. Inside, a full house of 1,500 people watched dozens of Banzhoff’s friends and classmates pay tribute to her.

Banzhoff, who was a 7th grader at Rundlett Middle School, sharpened her skills at the Capitol Center, and she also was well known for her training at the Concord Dance Academy and Flipz Gymnastics.

The show featured choreographed dance numbers led by Banzhoff’s sister, 15-year-old Gracie Banzhoff. Their parents, Barbara Higgins and Kenny Banzhoff, also appeared on stage, with Higgins making a heartfelt speech after the opening number.

“I’d brought Molly there for one of her many rehearsals in the last year at some point, and we sat down,” Higgins said at the time. “Molly looked at me and she goes, ‘Mom, I love this place. I love it backstage, I love the dressing rooms, I love watching. I just love it here.’ ”

Banzhoff’s GoFundMe page can be found at gofundme.com/2fy5sr4k.