Broadway Actors Coming to
Southdown School
Southdown Primary School students are in for a real treat next Tuesday, June 18. WSHU Public Radio has announced that Southdown is the grand prize winner of its 13th annual Music in Our Schools outreach program. Cast members from the spectacular new Broadway show, MATILDA THE MUSICAL will perform in the afternoon at the school as part of a special, hour-long interactive cast performance.
The actors will perform songs such as "Telly" and "Naughty" from MATILDA THE MUSICAL and participate in an interactive question and answer session during which students will ask questions about music and the performing arts.
Southdown School students will also get their own chance to perform. They will sing a portion of a signature song as they learn some choreography. The winning prize entry was submitted by vocal music teacher John Patrick Murphy. Over 400 students will get to see the cast performance.
MATILDA THE MUSICAL, which Rolling Stone magazine called, "hands down the best musical of the season," was recently nominated for 12 Tony Awards. Based on the beloved novel by best-selling author Roald Dahl, MATILDA is the story of an extraordinary girl who dreams of a better life.
Located in a studio on the grounds of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, WSHU developed the outreach program to bring visibility to the importance of music education, and to reward educators for the critical role they play. All elementary, middle and high school music teachers in WSHU's listening area were invited to enter the drawing. In addition to the cast performance, the grand prize winner will receive 16 tickets to see MATILDA THE MUSICAL on Broadway.
"The Music in Our Schools program is an integral part of our mission to serve our community," said WSHU General Manager George Lombardi. "It also fits into our work to promote the importance of music, art, and culture. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring something really special to educators and children in our community."
This year's outreach program is sponsored by the Drama League of New York, Really Good Stuff and IKEA New Haven. WSHU Public Radio Group is a not-for-profit, member-supported station that brings the best in public broadcasting to over 276,000 listeners in Long Island and Connecticut. WSHU airs National Public Radio programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Fresh Air, as well as Sunday Baroque, local classical music and in-depth news coverage that can be heard on WSHU 91.1 FM, WSUF 89.9 FM and www.wshu.org.