NORWICH – When Mark Sands saw “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Pantages Theater in Toronto a decade ago, he made a mental note to himself: “Someday, I’m going to do this.”

That day has come. The high school music teacher will direct the smash hit Broadway musical this weekend as the Norwich High School Musical Club stages “Phantom” Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30, and Sunday afternoon at 2:30.

Norwich is well-known for its high-quality musicals each spring, but this year’s selection sets the county seat’s school in a class by itself, literally. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s epic production – one of the most successful and longest-running musicals of all time – has only been performed by 60-odd high schools in the nation, ever. And Norwich is only the second in central New York to take it on.

“After the success of ‘Les Miserables’ last year, I thought, ‘Where do we go from here?’” the veteran NHS director said. “I wanted to keep that level of professionalism that we’re known for, and set the bar even higher.”