Broadway's 'Dear Evan Hansen' Tells Westchester Boy To 'Break A Leg' In Talent Show
RYE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The cast and crew of a Broadway musical had a special message for a Westchester County boy who's singing in a local talent show: "Break a leg."
As CBS2's Dana Tyler reported Friday night, 11-year-old Daniel Pellegrini chose to perform "Waving Through a Window" from the show "Dear Evan Hansen" on Saturday evening in the Rye's Got Talent show.
Pellegrini was recently having problems with some kids in school and having a hard time expressing his feelings to his family, his mom said. That is, until he found his voice through song.
"Literately, it's asking: Can anybody see me? Is anybody paying attention? Like if you're talking, does anybody want to talk back to you?" Daniel said.
"I was folding laundry, and he just quietly came up to me and handed me my phone with this song cued, and he just said, 'Does this help?'" his mother, Laura, said.
Daniel has been practicing with a vocal coach to nail the performance.
"It's so perfect that he found this song," his coach Anthony Valbiro said.
Later Saturday night, Laura told CBS2, "Daniel didn't win but he is on cloud nine!"
"Very happy just having everybody clapping, and waving, and applauding," Daniel said after the show.
"It was overwhelming. We were crying, we were laughing, we were waving. The whole place was waving, everybody was so thrilled for him," his mom added.
She said a girl named Hikari Tomizawa, who played the piano, won.
