Saturday 1 June 2013

School musical spared by Roots drummer Questlove

Musician Ahmir Khalib Thompson, also called Questlove, has decided to help fund the twelve-monthly musical at his school, the Philadelphia High School for Innovative and The stage Arts (CAPA), it is now revealed this week.

Questlove, who plays drums for the Grammy-award winning Hip Hop pop group ‘The Roots’ (the band presently occupying the spot as the house group for United states chat TV show ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’), can also be a greatly asked for record producer, music journalist and DJ.

The 42-year-old drummer heard that his school was being forced to cancel their 2013 musical due to funding cuts and opted to ensure that next year’s show would not suffer the identical destiny.

Thompson it appears that called the school’s principal, Johnny C. Whaley, JR and chose a “sizeable donation” to ensure that the performance would go to the fore next year.

Due to Questlove’s openhandedness and also the efforts of other donors (like local lawyers Charles Peruto and Abe Kasbo) the school’s annual musical tradition is predicted to resume in 2014.

Whaley told KYW Newsradio that Thompson has “reached out to our school before and given us supplies”, he went on to say that “you have to know when we’re a very close-knit association, when our alumni see things changing, when they have the fiscal ability to aid, they reach out to us.”

The yearly event, that’s an important showcase both for CAPA as an institution and for young talent within the Philadelphia area, costs about $65,000 (approximately £42,000) to provide, but is not a part of CAPA’s annual budget. “There’s a certain standard of superiority we have,” says Whaley of the cost, “We don’t give in when it relates to production”

The earlier show was funded by The Home and School Society, following a contribution from The William Penn Foundation.

CAPA is noted for the fostering of creative talent and several of the school’s graduates have gone to flourishing careers in arts and entertainment. Notable alumni include record-breaking RnB vocal group ‘Boyz II Men’, author and ‘Scrubs’ co-producer Angela Nissel and former James Brown and Sting bassist Christian McBride as well as many more.

Questlove met and befriended MC and fellow ‘Roots’ cofounder Tariq Trotter (better referred to as ‘Black Thought’) whilst both were students at CAPA.

Sources:

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/questlove-saves-capa-high-school-play.html

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/05/06/questlove-steps-up-to-ensure-next-years-capa-musical-will-go-on/

http://articles.philly.com/2013-05-06/news/39044128_1_questlove-capa-the-roots


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