''SING!'' is an annual student-run musical production put on by some high schools in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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 (1913-2013), a music teacher at

Midwood High School Midwood High School is a high school located at 2839 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, administered by the New York City Department of Education. It has an enrollment of 3,938 students. Its H-shaped building, with six Ionic order, Ionic co ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1947. A

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

archive of the papers of entertainer

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

, who went to high school with Tillis, contains playbills of ''SING!'' performances at

from the years 1953–1957. The 1989 film ''Sing'' is based on a fictional ''SING!'' production. According to ''

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'' review of the movie, the film's production notes say that

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

, who attended various Brooklyn and

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high schools in the mid to late 1950s, took part in ''SING!'' productions. Other ''SING!'' celebrities include Stuyvesant High School's

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film ''The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

and

Paul Reiser Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...

Inter-SING

Inter-SINGs are SING competitions held between different high schools. They have been held in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.

Sheepshead Bay High School Sheepshead Bay High School is a defunct public high school in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Closed in 2016, the building currently operates as Frank J. Macchiarola Educational Complex, housing several smaller high schools. History Sheepshe ...

had a long string of victories in the three-school competition called InterSchool SING (or Inter-SING) during the 1970s and 1980s, punctuated by wins by Lincoln High School. Inter-Sing first started on Staten Island in the late 1970's between Tottenville and Susan Wagner High Schools. More recently, Susan E. Wagner High School won the 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 Tottenville High School is located at 100 Luten Avenue, in Huguenot, Staten Island, New York. Tottenville H.S. is in Administrative District 31, and is operated by the New York City Department of Education. The school's principal is Gina Battista, ...

, which participated for the first time, won in 2009 with Senior Sing X's production of "Narneville", a twisted fairy tale. Recent Brooklyn Inter-SING winners include Edward R. Murrow High School (2014-2015) and

(2016). Inter-SING 2015 in Brooklyn was broadcast on live TV in Brooklyn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sing! Public education in New York City Theatre in New York City