By Jennifer Marino
It's the sixth year that South Side Middle Schoolers have been chosen for a literal 15 minutes of fame. The students appear in the windows of houses in a scene with Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come and in the finale with the entire cast. In both scenes they sing God Bless Us Everyone. It is a moving musical version of the most famous line from the show.
I'm really excited, said sixth-grader Mara Furlong, who is participating for the first time. Furlong, who also plays violin, has never performed before such a large audience. She is most looking forward to meeting the other cast members.
This year, the height requirement was reduced to 4'11 because F. Murray Abraham, who plays Scrooge, is shorter than past Scrooges.
The choir duties are shared among SSMS and three other schools from Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey. On Nov. 21, the singers were put through a brief rehearsal with Schmittou, and parents attended a meeting. The school's director of music and performing arts, Michael Abresch, reminded parents of their responsibilities, which include keeping their angels healthy and on-time.
Two things are special about this year's production. One is that the students will be performing in the Christmas day show. Schmittou said that show usually has the best, most fun audience.
The other special performance will take place Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. on the steps of Manhattan's Eighth Avenue Post Office. Macy's is sponsoring the world's biggest Christmas carol, and the four choirs from A Christmas Carol and some cast members will be participating. The Guinness Book of Records has been contacted, and if enough people show up, an entry will be made in the book. There is also the possibility that Kelly Ripa from Live with Regis and Kelly will host the event. All are invited to attend.
A bus will transport the student performers from the middle school to the Garden, where they will be accompanied by two Rockville Centre chaperones (choir director John Pineiro is usually one of them) and two Madison Square Garden officials, one of whom will be Schmittou. The kids will hang out in a dressing room until it's their time to shine. They'll even have their own dressers to help them with costumes and wings.
Schmittou was impressed with the choir's knack for harmonies and the cooperation of the school. They have just done an incredible job to make this program work, he said, crediting Abresch and Pineiro.
