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By Max Jaeger
Brooklyn Daily
Performers from three Southern Brooklyn high schools reprised a borough tradition.
Students attending the schools — Edward R. Murrow on Avenue L, James Madison on Bedford Avenue, and Fillmore Avenue’s Marine Park — competed in the first multi-school Sing! competition in decades, going head-to-head-to-head for bragging rights and to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Murrow’s team took top honors for its riff on Harry Potter called “MurrowWarts,” but judges said all three acts hit the right notes.
“It was a very difficult decision,” said District 22 Superintendant Rhonda Farkas, who was also a judge. “I had to make a rough draft before handing in my final scores. Each school had a remarkable talent — the acting, the singing, playing in the band.”
Students produce all aspects of the show — including choreography, song-writing, and live accompaniment, said Lisa Willner, a spokesperson for Murrow.
“It really does bring together everyone from every creative group in the school,” she said. “Every Sing-er has ownership over all this.”
The competition raised more than $20,000 for the Relay for Life — more than any single Relay fund-raiser, she said.
Sing! has been a Southern Brooklyn institution since Midwood High School music teacher Bella Tillis created the competition in 1947.
“It’s like the pre-cursor to TV’s ‘Glee,’ ” said Relay for Life organizer Joe Gillette.
In the past, schools would compete against each other for bragging rights. More recently, the competitions pitted grades within the same school against one another. For the fund-raiser, organizers wanted to bring Sing! back to its heyday and stoke inter-school competition, Gillette said.
“We thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be a great idea to get the winners from each of the schools together to face-off like they did in the ’60s?’ ” he said.
And there will be an encore.
“This is going to be an annual thing,” Gillette said.