Youth choir rocks Howard Beach

The Our Lady of Grace Youth Choir brought down the house on Sunday, July 27^th with their production of “Singin’ in the Summer.”

Performing to a capacity crowd of more than 300 family and friends, the afternoon featured not only a 15-song show, but also a meal donated by the families of the 30 choir members. A bounce house and balloon sculptures provided by Jeanie Beanie of Over the Moon Entertainment topped off the day’s festivities.

Steven Eriquez, choir director, said the show was a reward to the children and a way to thank to them for their dedication in singing each Sunday at the Our Lady of Grace 10 a.m. Mass.

“These kids are usually heard and not seen, as they are usually up in the choir loft,” he said. “This was a chance for them to be center stage and sing some of their favorite songs while also learning new ones. What made this day such an extraordinary success was the support, assistance, and dedication of every single choir family.”

The idea, the director said, was to allow the children’s families to invite as many of their family and friends as they wanted. Admission was free, and families were asked to donate food comparable to the amount of people attending from their family, as well as offer their time to help prepare for the show in various capacities. Raffles and dedication pages in the show’s program covered the production’s cost.

Musical selections included show tunes like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “It’s a Hard Knock Life,” and a couple from “Sound of Music,” mixed in with pop classics like “Splish Splash” and “What a Wonderful World,” along with recent hits like “The Climb,” “Dynamite,” “Firework,” “Happy,” and the girls’ favorite, “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen.”

The show wrapped up with a tribute to America as the encore, which included “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and an inspiring version of “America the Beautiful” called “Land That We Love.”