MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., September 10, 2014 – In advance of the release of the highly anticipated motion picture Annie, in theaters on December 19, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment is helping to support Turnaround Arts, a signature program of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Turnaround Arts works with local program partners to provide intensive arts education resources to clusters of high-poverty schools across the country, leading to increases in attendance, academic achievement, and student engagement. As part of a collaboration with Annie to promote arts education, Turnaround Arts will receive support, and Turnaround Arts schools who want to put on the Broadway classic will get resources and assistance in staging their production.
In Minneapolis, earlier this month Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, and filmmaker Will Gluck visited Northport Elementary, a Turnaround Arts school, where they met the first-through-fifth graders and worked with students preparing to audition for their school production of “Annie.”
Commenting on the announcement, Margo Lion, Co-Chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, said, “We are thrilled to be working with Sony Pictures and the new film of Annie, a truly beloved American musical, to get more arts education into the schools that need it the most. For any school, producing and performing a musical can be a memorable event. For our Turnaround Arts schools, it can be transformational. Students, parents and teachers get involved building sets, sewing costumes and rehearsing, and the whole community hums with excitement and expectation. In schools that often struggle with low morale and low parent and student engagement, putting on a musical is a doorway into more teamwork and collaboration, and we are excited to be there with Sony Pictures and Annie as the curtain goes up on these efforts.”
Jamie Foxx, who stars in Annie as Will Stacks, added, “Arts education is a way to make a real difference in the lives of kids everywhere. Being involved with the arts certainly changed my life, and I’ve seen that engagement change the lives of many others.”
In addition, Quvenzhané Wallis, who plays Annie in the film, said, “I was excited to visit the school today. We had so much fun and I’m glad that they are preparing for their own production of ‘Annie.’ Every Annie can be different, which is one of the reasons why it is so great to be a part of.”
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