By Kevin Coughlin
About an hour before Wednesday’s Morristown Onstage competition, we joined 11-year-old finalist Shannon Melody Burns and her mom for dinner upstairs at the Mayo Performing Arts Center.
The sixth-grader seemed remarkably poised for her first public performance.
“I wouldn’t say I fell in love with it. But I always felt it was my song,” Shannon said, explaining her chosen number, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
It took a couple of tries, but she would make the song her own — with a little help from our other dinner guest.
Alexandra Monfalcone came to MPAC to perform with the cast of Legally Blonde, Morristown High School’s spring musical, and to volunteer as a correspondent to help MorristownGreen.com cover the show.
When Shannon got overwhelmed — which can happen to any performer–Alexandra stepped up to play the role of big sister, as you will see in this video.
We can confirm that at least one hard-boiled journalist turned to mush as this scene unfolded.
“I’ve known Alexandra since she was a baby,” said Molly Servais, chairperson of Morristown Onstage.
“She’s a wonderful kid with a heart of gold. She saw a need and filled it. That is an outstanding young lady.”
MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE YEAR 10
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