SING!
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SING! is an annual student-run musical production put on by some high schools in New York City. It is a theater competition between the various grades, and while the setup between these grades differs from school to school (such as Soph-Frosh vs. Senior vs. Junior or Freshman-Senior vs. Sophomore-Junior), it's main aim is to foster a sense of community in the school.
SING! was started by Bella Tellis, a music teacher at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, NY, in 1947. A Library of Congress archive of the papers of entertainer Danny Kaye contains playbills of SING! performances at Midwood High School from the years 1953-1957.
The 1989 movie Sing is based on the SING! traditions. According to The New York Times review of the movie, the production notes for the movie say that Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Neil Sedaka took part in SING! productions., implying that SING! productions were commonplace in Brooklyn and Queens high schools in the 1950s.
Schools with current SING! productions
- Bronx High School of Science: Productions cancelled in 1994, but reinstated at some point, as SING! was produced in 2006.
- Brooklyn Technical High School: Production held in January 2005.
- The Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences: According to New York Magazine "[Goldstein] is one of the last schools in the city to continue the tradition of the December "Sing" music-and-dance performance, in which virtually every student in the school participates. Seniors are paired with freshmen, sophomores with juniors."
- Townsend Harris High School: Production held in 2006.
- Forest Hills High School: Productions in mid-1950s, based on Paul Simon's age, and is still being produced as of 2006: "Each December, the students show off their singing, dancing and dramatic talents in Sing, an all student run original production in which the freshman/sophomores, juniors, and seniors compete for victory."
- Midwood High School: Started in 1947, and is still being produced as of 2006.
- Edward R. Murrow High School: "Students also produce Sing, where freshmen and seniors compete against sophomores and juniors".
- Susan E. Wagner High School: Started in 1974, and is still being produced as of 2006. Freshmen pair with sophomores in "Sophmen" production, against Juniors and Seniors who each have their own show.
- Stuyvesant High School: Started in 1973, replacing the Student-Faculty Show, and has run continuously since then. The first Stuyvesant SING! included performances by Tim Robbins and Paul Reiser, both students at the time.
- Tottenville High School: Production held in November, 2005.
Schools with current SING! production status unknown
- Abraham Lincoln High School: Productions in mid/late 1950s, based on Neil Sedaka's age. Production in 1979.
- James Madison High School: Productions known to have occurred in the late 1960s. Janis Siegel of the Manhattan Transfer is known to have performed in productions at that time. School had a production as of 2005.
Schools no longer doing SING! productions
- Erasmus Hall High School: Productions in late 1950s, based on Barbra Streisand 1959 graduation. Neil Diamond also attended in this timeframe. School web site shows no evidence of current productions.
- New Utrecht High School: Production in 1983, other years unverified, school web site shows no evidence of current productions.
- Sheepshead Bay High School: Started in 1962, last produced in 1997, ended due to budget cuts.
References
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