Crystal Theatre Celebrates Winners of the Matthew Chiappetta Memorial Scholarship

The Annual Matthew Chiappetta Memorial Concert was held March 15, 2010 at our Ben Franklin Theater and this year's scholarship winners were presented and congratulated by Matthew's family.

Pictured are Roch & Marci Chiappetta (Matthew's parents), 2010 first place winner, 7th grader, Sam DeMattio, Honorable Mention winners, 7th graders Gabby Pucci, Rachel Davison and 8th grader, Max Helfand. Standing behind them are Richard and JoAnn Chiappetta, Matthew's grandparents.

The concert was hosted by Jessica and Melissa Labbadia who sang a song they wrote in their friend Matthew's memory-"Believe". The girls-known to their fans as L2-will be performing a concert of their music at our theater this summer. We were also happy to welcome back former student Kyle Brenn, who sang Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere" which he currently sings on Broadway in the revival of "West Side Story". While Kyle sang, a slideshow of Matthew as he appeared in many shows and at camp-- compiled by Doug Streat -- was projected on the screen.

The concert featured the casts of "Thumbelina", "Snow White", "Puss 'N Boots", "Cosmic Nightingale" and "The Battle and Burning of Norwalk, 1779" singing songs from their upcoming Spring shows and culminated in a moving rendition of Matthew's favorite song, "The Heart Will Go On" from the movie "Titanic", sung by the entire cast. We thank all the wonderful students of Crystal Theatre for their participation in this annual event which was originally initiated by the Crystal Theatre friends of longtime student, Matthew Chiappetta, who passed away suddenly on March 6, 2004. 

(Source: Crystal Theatre)