Ava Gallo, 18, performed "Thank you for the Music" at Ellen's Stardust Diner after being named one of five Junior Stardusters. The contest attracted about 300 submissions and 30 auditions, producing winners aged eight to 18. Winners performed for a few hundred diners who watched, filmed, applauded, and sometimes gave standing ovations. Judges included Broadway performers Jessie Hooker-Bailey, Gilbert L. Bailey, Bailey McCall, diner owner Ellen Hart and artistic director Scott Barbarino. Other winners included Benjamin Law, 12; Addison Wynkoop, 14; Ashley Bowling, 15; and Clara Bishop, 8. The diner later rebranded and moved to 1650 Broadway with signature singing servers.
Ava Gallo, dressed in a white skirt and a black top, on Tuesday got a kind of Broadway break in the Theater District. The 18-year-old from Staten Island, who had appeared in her high school production of Mamma Mia, belted out Thank you for the Music at Ellen's Stardust Diner on Broadway. She had been named one of five winners or Junior Stardusters in the restaurant's first such competition, performing on Tuesday in front of the restaurant's audience.
A few hundred diners watched, listened, videoed, applauded, and some even gave her and other performers a standing ovation. They had performed in a well-known venue (with a line outside) in the Theater District, if not precisely on a Broadway stage. I think I've gotten used to it, but there's a little butterflies sometimes, Gallo said of nerves. It's a passion.
Winners were chosen from 300 submissions and 30 auditions by Broadway performers Jessie Hooker-Bailey, Gilbert L. Bailey, Bailey McCall, diner owner Ellen Hart and the diner's artistic director Scott Barbarino. Gallo, 18, from Staten Island, sand along with Benjamin Law, 12, from Massapequa; Addison Wynkoop, 14, from Bellefonte, Penn.; Ashley Bowling, 15, from Scotch Plains, N.J., and Clara Bishop, age 8, from Ambler, Penn.
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