P.S. 81 kids go around the world in song

Correction appended.

Chaos. That’s what the Robert J. Christen School’s (P.S. 81) cafeteria looked like after school on June 5. 

About 125 students in various costumes and more than a dozen parents wearing bright blue T-shirts were going through the dress rehearsal for the school’s annual Children’s Show. 

Parent Lauren Carmona explained the show is run completely by parent volunteers, and the PA donates $4,000 for costumes and other costs.

“There’s so little opportunity for arts in the school day, so the parents who started [the show] a bazillion years ago wanted to give the kids some kind of artistic experience,” she said.

The students and parents have been working on the show for several months, voluntarily giving up their Friday afternoons to rehearse. The children were split up by grade, with each level learning a song as well as a dance routine. The fifth graders got rewarded with a few more numbers, so each student could have a solo.

The parents chose the music, Ms. Carmona explained, trying to come up songs that the children might not here on the radio. This year’s picks include “Dancing Queen” by ABBA and “Rome” by the B-52s. 

“It’s a tremendous undertaking, it’s lots of work, but the kids have a blast,” Ms. Carmona said. 

This year, the show was called “P.S. 81 Presents: Around the World in 81 Days.” Ms. Carmona explained that each routine represented a different country.

On stage, five boys in fifth grade sang “The Best Song Ever” by the British boy band One Direction. A group of third graders wearing shirts with the Italian flag followed the boys, belting out “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin.

This year marked the first time fifth grader Mardi Risal performed in the show.

“This is my last year at school so I thought it would be fun to participate and see what it’s all about,” he said. “It’s not about having the best song. It’s about having fun and singing your heart out.”

Briana Diaz, also in fifth grade, said this was her third year in the show. “I continued to do it because it was so much fun,” she explained.