Thanks to Tony Winner Laura Benanti, Students Everywhere Get to Perform from Their School Musicals on TV

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't just put a temporary hold on Broadway and off-Broadway shows, but it presented a real gut punch to rising theater stars, last week causing the cancellation of high school musicals all over. Anyone who's experienced the time and effort put into rehearsals and the exciting build up to opening night can only imagine how tough that must be. But one Broadway star quickly turned that disappointment into a major spotlight. Last week, Tony-winning actress Laura Benanti put a call out on Twitter asking students whose musicals were canceled to share videos of them singing, requesting that they tag her and use the hashtag #SunshineSongs so she could see them perform. What resulted was an outpouring of joyous numbers that served as a moving antidote to theater fans in a sad time. If that boost wasn't fantastic enough, ABC's Good Morning America shone a light on Benanti's good will gesture, featuring some of the students' delightful numbers on the small screen, including a thrilling turn from Once on This Island and a showstopping performance from an all-female Fiddler on the Roof.

"I just feel like it's really needed right now. Ya know, I think this is a really sort of dark and scary time," said Benanti. "There's nothing like live theater, but when you can't get into a room with a thousand other people, the best thing we can do is watch it online, and create the largest theater in the world."