"Finding out about the new pianos was like Christmas morning," music teacher Sara Tomić said.
Cast members of the Broadway hit A Bronx Tale have donated a collection of new pianos to a high school in the very borough that inspired the musical.
To support the arts program at the Young Women’s Leadership School of the Bronx in New York, students in grade 6 to 12 were surprised with a set of brand new digital pianos and keyboards.
“Finding out about the new pianos was like Christmas morning in September,” the school’s music teacher Sara Tomić told InsideEdition.com. “My kids love playing keyboards but there are never enough of them in the room, so when I found out they were coming, I was ecstatic and so were my kids.”
Tomić said years ago, they only had bucket drums and recorders to support their music program.
Broadway stars Will Coombs, who plays young Calogero; Lucia Giannetta, who plays Rosina; and Christiani Pitts who plays Jane were among the cast members who presented the new pianos to the school as part of a collaboration between the musical and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.
Students in the 60-member school band were also invited to attend a matinee performance of the musical.
“I don’t know if many of them had seen a show before, but to kind of see those characters go to school in a place many of them grew up and to see how the characters dealt with racism and violence in their community was a great message for them too,” Tomić said.
Julie Lewis, who represented producers and directors of the show, explained the gift was inspired by the musical’s writer, Chazz Palminteri, who was encouraged by his dad to pursue music and the arts just a mile and a half away from the school’s location 50 years ago.
“As he famously told Chazz, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent,” Lewis said.
