Marcia Gay Harden Runs The Town!

On Monday, the PS22 Chorus of 2010 had the pleasure once again of singing for our dear friend (and Academy & Tony Award-winning actress), Marcia Gay Harden! Marcia, adding to her collection, was being given a Big Apple Award at N.Y.U.'s THIS IS TISCH! Gala at the Rose Theater in Manhattan. The kids sang a re-reworked version of "Run This Town" (by Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West) for Marcia, and were perfectly in tune! Marcia was amazing, giving each child individual attention and making them all feel like the stars they are!

The event was helping to raise money for scholarships to the performing arts program at N.Y.U, as well as to honor some of their prestigious alumni, such as Marcia Gay Harden! Other honorees of the evening included Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Sheila Nevins, and Diana King. Knowing of our relationship with Marcia, producer Ken Davenport contacted me and asked me if the kids would be able to sing at the ceremony as a surprise for Marcia. Of course there was no way we would ever turn down an opportunity to give back to Marcia! (In 2006, she had the PS22 Chorus over to her house for Christmas!)

What we DIDN'T realize was that the ceremony would be a veritable Who's Who of show business! In the audience sat Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Alec Baldwin, Glenn Close, and many more! Even backstage, as the kids were gearing up for their performance, they got some love, adoration, and inspiration from 3rd Rock From The Sun actress, Kristen Johnson. How amazing for the kids to perform for such an illustrious array of talent! Needless to say, chorus member Ethan got in his fair share of celebrity sniffing. And from the looks of the pictures below, it seems like the PS22 Chorus kids are becoming quite the celebs themselves.... in EVERY WAY!

Big thanks to Ms. Lisa and Ms. Sassano for all the great video footage and pics you see here. And of course, big thanks to Marcia Gay Harden for making time for the kids on her special night.