Brooklyn Sings 2015! A Homegrown Hit, Raises More Than $18,000 To Fight Cancer

by Ellen Levitt

Brooklyn teens showcased their musical, singing, dancing and acting skills Saturday night at Murrow High School on Avenue L. At the second annual Brooklyn Sings! InterSing competition, which pit Sing shows from Madison, Midwood and Murrow High Schools, Murrow was triumphant. All three public schools staged entertaining productions that drew a packed crowd and enthusiastic cheers, and raised more than $18,000 to fight cancer.

Sing is the varsity production activity that several New York City high schools cobble together each year. It was started at Midwood High School by teacher Bella Tillis in 1947 to allow students to write their own scripts and music, choreograph dances, design and create scenery and props, and perform in star roles and choral group spots, or behind-the-scenes capacities.

This InterSing production starred the Midwood Seniors team, the Murrow Senior-Fresh team, and the Madison Junior-Fresh group. Each production featured energetic dancing and music, spirited choral numbers and much more. But along with the fun came competitive judging, and the Murrow team earned the highest overall score.

Midwood took the stage first, with “Senior Singling Circus.” A teenage girl, tired of her nagging parents, runs away from home and joins a struggling circus. Eventually she decides to reunite with her parents, various life lessons learned. The Midwood band was particularly good, featuring players on steel drums, vibraphone and standard drum set. Their dance ensemble was very capable and one female gymnast was a standout with her skillful moves and juggling abilities, as was the young actress who played a bumbling police officer. Their ending Victory song (a traditional Sing requirement) was sung to the tune of an Iggy Azalea pop hit.

Murrow next came on board with “Camp Senior Fresh,” about an idyllic summer sleepaway camp whose existence is threatened by the construction of a shopping mall. The campers and counselors, along with a sympathetic assistant developer, convince the chief developer to take his commercial enterprise elsewhere. Murrow’s students created vivid scenery and props, including a delightful campfire piece. Their dancing, including a step production, was rollicking. Solo and choral singing was excellent, the band versatile (including a key violin solo), and the show was of near-Broadway quality at times. Among the standout performers were a tap-dancing senior girl and a freshman boy (“Richard”) whose Steve Urkel-like character sang with gusto.

Madison closed the night’s festivities with “Be Careful What You Wish For,” a sit-com piece that featured a mock Disneyworld. A girl wishes she could get away from her overbearing parents and teasing sister, and then she is pitted between good Disney characters and evil. Their script was full of corny jokes and good-natured parody. Standouts for this group include two kids as a singing Jasmine-Aladdin duo, a sax solo, and a thrilling darkened-stage dance number in which the dancers donned glowing gloves and headgear.

The show raised more than $18,000 (with proceeds still being counted) for Relay for Life, of the American Cancer Society, through ticket sales, raffle tickets, T-shirts and food. The night reached a fever pitch when students from all three schools, clad in the same purple Brooklyn Sings 2015! shirts, joined together on stage to chant; some students broke out of the pack to take turns doing freestyle dances.

The show, which ran from 5pm to 10pm, was televised by BRIC. Congratulations to all the students involved—you made Brooklyn proud!