SING!

SING! is an annual student-run musical production put on by some high schools in the Greater New York City area. It is a theater competition between the various grades, with the setup between grades differing from school to school (such as sophomore-freshman vs. seniors vs. juniors, senior-sophomore vs. junior-freshman or freshman-senior vs. sophomore-junior).

SING! was conceived by Bella Tillis, a music teacher at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York in 1947.^{[1] [2]}

A Library of Congress archive of the papers of entertainer Danny Kaye, who went to High School with Tillis,^[3] contains playbills of SING! performances at Midwood High School from the years 1953-1957.^[4]

The 1989 film adaptation Sing is based on the SING! traditions. According to The New York Times review of the movie, the film's production notes say that Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Carole King and Neil Sedaka, who attended various Brooklyn and Queens high schools in the mid to late 1950s, took part in SING! productions.^[5]Other SING! celebrities include Stuyvesant High School's Tim Robbins and Paul Reiser.^[6]

Schools with SING! productions as of 2006

• Benjamin N. Cardozo High School: Production held in March^{[citation needed]}
• Bronx High School of Science: Productions cancelled in 1994,^[7] but reinstated for 2012.^[8]
• Brooklyn Technical High School: Production held annually. Freshmen and Sophomores team up as Freshmores to go up against Juniors against Seniors.^{[citation needed]}
• 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."^[9]
• Francis Lewis High School: Production held annually. SING! returned in November 2011. Production held in February 2012. Freshmen and Sophomores teamed up as Sophmen to go against Juniors against Seniors. In the first year, Seniors took 1st place with their "End of the World" performance.
• 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."^[10]
• Townsend Harris High School: Production held in 2006.^[11]
• Long Island City High School: Producing its first SING! competition in December 2012.
• James Madison High School: Productions, including Carole King (nee Carole Klein, class of 1958) and Janis Siegel (The Manhattan Transfer), known to have occurred in the 1950s/1960s, respectively. Senior/Soph vs Junior/Fresh. Production held in 2008.^[12]
• Gaynor McCown/CSI High School had their first SING production on January 22, 2010. It was a "Sophmen" SING! Their first competing SING! was in the following year with Junior SING! verses Sophmen SING! Their first full SING! was in December of 2011 with Senior/Freshmen SING! against Junior/Sophomore (Juni-more).^{[citation needed]}
• Midwood High School: still being produced as of 2012 each December.^[13]
• Edward R. Murrow High School: "Students also produce Sing, where freshmen and seniors compete against sophomores and juniors".^[14]
• New Dorp High School: Production held every November or December. Juniors and Freshman team up as Junior Fresh. Seniors and Sophomores team up as Senior Soph. ^{[citation needed]}
• New Utrecht High School: Production in 1983, other years unverified, productions stopped ca. 1987 but were reinstated in 2007. ^{[citation needed]}
• Michael J. Petrides School: Productions were reinstated in 2004 after a brief hiatus, and have been held annually since then. The composition of teams varies from year to year; either Freshman/Junior versus Sophomore/Senior or Freshman/Senior versus Sophomore/Junior.^{[citation needed]}
• Port Richmond High School: Production held in 2005.^[15]
• Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School: Only high school outside the five boroughs of New York City known to have a SING! production. All four grades compete separately. Production held in 2010.^[16]
• Staten Island Technical High School: Started in the fall 2002. Productions held every fall since.^[17] Held annually, has two teams.
• Stuyvesant High School: Started in 1973, replacing the Student-Faculty Show, and has run continuously since then. The first Stuyvesant SING! included Tim Robbins and Paul Reiser, both students at the time.^[18]
• Tottenville High School: Started in 1975 and still running. Latest production held on November 16, 2013.^[19]
• Susan E. Wagner High School: Started in 1974, and is still being produced. The 38th competition was held in November 2010. Freshmen pair with sophomores in "Sophmen" production, against Juniors and Seniors who each have their own show. Production is generally the week of Veterans' Day in November.^[20]
• Townsend Harris High School: Production held in 2012.^[21]

Schools with SING! production status unknown as of 2006

• Abraham Lincoln High School: Productions began in mid/late 1950s, based on Neil Sedaka's age.^[22]

Schools no longer doing SING! productions as of 2006

• Erasmus Hall High School: Productions began in late 1950s, based on Barbra Streisand's 1959 graduation. Neil Diamond also attended in this timeframe. School web site shows no evidence of current productions.^{[citation needed]}
• Sheepshead Bay High School: Started in 1962, last produced in 1997, ended due to budget cuts.^[23]

SING! is run by students

SING! is run by the students, except for the faculty advisors. The SING! faculty members select talented individuals who are experienced or talented to run their SING! teams. SING! is organized like a professional show, with playwrights, producers, costume designers, a theatrical design team, a chorus, and a band, which are mostly chosen by the SING! faculty, although at some schools there is much less faculty involvement (Stuyvesant High School, for example, has the faculty choose student coordinators, who then are in charge of delegating responsibilities). In some schools, such as Susan E. Wagner High School, the students are able to vote in their own directors, so that way the students choose the people they want to run their show, rather than have faculty decide for the participants of SING!. The chorus is often large, as in some SING! shows, the leaders can't turn away chorus members.

Inter-SING

Inter-SINGs are SING competitions held between different high schools. They have been held in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Susan Wagner High School won the first Staten Island competition in 2007 with their Junior production of "The JSV Circus", Staten Island Technical High School won in 2008 with their Senior-Sophomore production entitled "Carnicus," and Tottenville High School, who participated for the first time, won in 2009 with Senior Sing X's production of "Narneville," a very twisted fairy tale. ^[24]).

References

External links

• Hsu, Wendy (November 3, 2006). "Still SING-ing". Arts Hub. 
• Sing at the Internet Movie Database