Edward R. Murrow High School
Brooklyn, New York
January 31, 2025
I had the pleasure of attending my cousin Owen’s performance at his high school in Brooklyn. It is called Edward R. Murrow and there are approx 3600 students. Half of those students are in the regular stream, but the other half are in music, theatre, and visual arts focussed programs.
Admission to the arts programs are based on portfolio and/or auditions. Owen auditioned with his Euphonium and has switched to Tuba this year. He also plays trombone in jazz band.
Harris had told me this was a variety night called “Sing!”, but I did realize exactly what I was about to witness. This is the 47th annual Sing! Competition at this school. Every year the school splits the arts program into two teams: Seniorfresh (grades 12 and 9) and Juniorsoph (grades 10&11) The planning starts in the fall where all of the student producers and creative team leaders are chosen. Then in January, they have one month to mount a musical production. It is all done as an extracurricular exercise except for a one week break after exams where they are rehearsing basically It is completely student-led. It is also optional, they are not graded on this.
It is a friendly competition of sorts as well – kind of like colour war at camp, complete with cheering and step percussion dances and team colours. For the musical numbers they would take popular songs and write their own words to fit into the script. It was incredible. Each production had handmade costumes and sets, a full student-conducted orchestra/band, elaborate musical and dance numbers, the works! It was really something, I loved every minute of it! It brought back so many memories for me from my 14 years at summer camp, of colour war, and of my years working towards my theatre degree. What a phenomenal experience for those kids. I was especially inspired by the mentorship aspect. The grade nines are mentored by the grade twelves in their first year, by the grade elevens in their second year, and then they are the mentors for the next two years.
After the show, Harris found a pizza joint that was still open (not one of his top 10 favourites though), and we picked up a pie to take home. It was delicious. I also got a small square for myself that had carmelized onions, chunky zucchini and ricotta on it which tasted better than anything I have ever gotten at home. He was just going to pick it up, but I insisted on going with him, because in my past experience, seeing the restaurant is half the experience. I was right. This place was called Krispy Pizza, and it was an authentic New York pizza experience.
Harris double parked and we walked around the enormous pile of garbage and empty pizza boxes piled up front.
Inside, there were a variety of squares to choose from, old school pizza ovens, interesting murals on the walls, and stereotypical New York characters behind the counter. It was great.
I went to sleep too late but it was such an amazing day. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.