{"id":79458,"date":"2025-12-23T19:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/79458\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T19:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:58:27","slug":"staten-island-students-share-hope-joy-through-music-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/79458\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island students share hope, joy through music this holiday season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: The author of this article is a St. Joseph Hill Academy student who participates in the Advance\/SILive.com High School Journalism Immersion program.The initiative is designed to help young people explore the world of community journalism.<\/a><\/p>\n

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Between the bustle of putting Christmas decorations up, and finding gifts for loved ones, this time of year has a special meaning to a large group of Staten Island high school students from across the borough.<\/p>\n

The fifth annual \u201cVery Merry Minty Christmas Cabaret\u201d with the Minty Organization took place recently at Lorenzo\u2019s Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield. <\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left: St. Joseph Hill Academy\u2019s MaryGrace Pallarino, Moore Catholic High School\u2019s Ava Deliz, and St. Joseph Hill Academy\u2019s Santina Ruggiero, all sophomores.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minty Christmas Cabaret is a time for students, family, and friends to get together and celebrate one of the most wonderful times of the year,\u201d said Julia Tarantino, a junior at Moore Catholic High School. \u201cIt\u2019s a night that brings hope and joy, through music, to those who need it this Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left: Notre Dame Academy\u2019s Grace Assile, St. Joseph Hill Academy\u2019s Lucia Ferlazzo and Julianna Baldwin, St. Joseph by-the-Sea\u2019s Danilynn Fiore, and St. Joseph Hill Academy\u2019s Julianna Johnson and Ava Robbins.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

To these young performers, this cabaret is more than singing on the stage at the Hilton Garden Inn venue: It\u2019s about spreading happiness around the holiday season and strengthening friendships. <\/p>\n

\"nwsSophomores performing the song \u201cMust Be Santa\u201d in the \u201cVery Merry Minty Christmas Cabaret\u201d at Lorenzo\u2019s.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s sold-out performance marked the start of another year full of Minty programming. Ultimately, the Minty Awards in June are a competition between these talented students. Yet, the mission of the Minty Organization, especially Executive Director Kayla McBratney, is to foster the sense of community and love that the Mintys are based on. <\/p>\n

\"nwsThe venue at Lorenzo\u2019s Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret at the Hilton Garden Inn, festively decorated for the holidays.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

Now in her second year as executive director, McBratney facilitated rehearsals this past month. Between classic ballads like \u201cHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas\u201d to contemporary hits like \u201cChristmas Tree Farm\u201d by Taylor Swift, McBratney\u2019s hard work was integral to the cabaret\u2019s success. \u201cThese students were tireless in putting on an amazing show to benefit both Carmel Richmond Nursing Home and Where to Turn with our toy drive,\u201d McBratney said, referencing the community impact the cabaret has. <\/p>\n

\"nwsExecutive Director of The Minty Organization Kayla McBratney making an appearance on the stage at Lorenzo\u2019s Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret during the \u201cVery Merry Minty Christmas Cabaret.”(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

Audience members and performers alike are invited to bring an unwrapped toy to benefit Where to Turn\u2019s annual drive. Performers also take a separate trip to Carmel Richmond Nursing Home to perform highlights of the setlist to residents there to ring in the holiday season. \u201cI am so beyond proud of all of them and their talents amaze me every day,\u201d McBratney added. <\/p>\n

\"nwsStudents from Moore Catholic High School posing before the Minty Christmas Cabaret.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of the Minty Organization has been such an amazing experience so far,\u201d said Claudia DeVito, a freshman at St. Joseph Hill Academy. With the cabaret being so early in the high school experience, it provides freshmen and theater newcomers with the opportunity to meet students from other schools. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful to be a member and I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left: St. Joseph Hill Academy students Mia Mangin, Ava Vitale, Claudia DeVito, Alessa Faljean, Julianna Johnson, Santina Ruggiero, Natalie Chernyakhovsky, and Avery Albertson.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

For many, this cabaret is the first performance of this 15th Minty season. This year, the season includes \u201cSeussical\u201d at St. Joseph Hill Academy, \u201cDamn Yankees\u201d at Monsignor Farrell High School, \u201cInto the Woods\u201d at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School, \u201cThe Music Man\u201d at Moore Catholic High School, \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d at Notre Dame Academy, and \u201cJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat\u201d at St. Peter\u2019s Boys High School. <\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left: Minty Organization alumni Ella Dreher, Sean Woods, Max Gordon, Sofia Fink, and Ryan Albertson coming back to watch their friends perform. Dreher is a freshman at Wagner College and Gordon is a freshman at Iona University, with Woods, Fink, and Albertson all being freshmen at Sacred Heart University.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

This past month, students have juggled auditions, rehearsals at multiple schools, cabaret rehearsals, college applications, schoolwork, and other extracurriculars. Being on that stage is a testament to the hard work they\u2019ve put in so far. <\/p>\n

\"nws– The fifth annual Very Merry Minty Christmas Cabaret with the Minty Organization took place recently at Lorenzo\u2019s Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a month-long collaboration from 50 students all across Staten Island Catholic high schools, our Christmas Cabaret was the perfect way to get audience members in the Christmas spirit,\u201d McBratney said.<\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left: St. Joseph Hill Academy junior Daniela Colella, a member of the Minty Junior Board, with Moore Catholic High School sophomore Ava Deliz.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made new friends, found a strong sense of community, and have grown my skills and love for theater,\u201d added DeVito. <\/p>\n

\"nwsFrom left to right: Lucia Ferlazzo and Ava Robbins from St. Joseph Hill Academy; Danilynn Fiore from St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School; and Addison Ward, Grace Assile, and Star Papas from Notre Dame Academy.(Alexa Viggiano for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s Note: The author of this article is a St. Joseph Hill Academy student who participates in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-79458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}