St. Gregory's Bringing 'Broadway Kids' to Harrison

From a beloved orphan asking for more food to a lovable lion making friends in the jungle, St. Gregory the Great Parish's Broadway Kids musical has a little bit of everything.

As the parish —fittingly located on Broadway in Harrison — prepares to celebrate 100 years in the community this spring, 19 students will join the fun by performing scenes from eight different musical favorites this weekend. Tickets are $10 at the door and all proceeds go toward the parish's religious education program.

Producers Annamarie Mastroberardino and Carol Grabbe have been working with the students, aged four to 11, twice a week since before Christmas. During the show students introduce a scene from the different musicals and act them out with different members of the cast playing lead roles.

"It gives our kids an avenue to bring out their talents," said Maria Gaudelli, the religious education director at St. Gregory's, who has worked with the church for more than 30 years.

Proceeds will go toward books and educational games for the 500 children who take religious education at the school. It also gives the young performers a chance to be a part of the 100-year anniversary, scheduled to kick-off later this spring.

"We thought it would be a nice way to kind of get the children involved in the celebration," said Mastroberardino, who, along with Grabbe owns the New York Performing Arts Center in White Plains.

The co-producers said they are excited to work with such a young cast, after working with older performers at their other job. It is their second production at St. Gregory's and they, along with the cast of students, look ready to entertain this weekend.

"They really have come together," said Mastroberardino. "Not that we didn't expect it from them, because we push them to try and do their best, but they kind of exceeded what we really thought they could do."

The cast will perform Broadway Kids Saturday, March 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m. St. Gregory's school is located at 94 Broadway, Harrison.