Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon, announced last night the three Bay Area high school winners of the 10th Anniversary of The Steve Silver Foundation & Beach Blanket Babylon “Scholarship for the Arts.”
Out of nine finalists who performed in the live competition at Club Fugazi, Aragon High School’s Mariko Ishikawa (Dance), Santa Rosa High School’s Nicolas Chuba (Acting) and Sonoma Academy’s Jake Brinskele (Voice) each walked away with $10,000 towards their college education.
The evening opened with a mash-up of “Let Me Be Your Star” from the TV show “Smash” and Fun.’s “We Are Young” performed by the cast of Beach Blanket Babylon.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening is Oldies 103.7’s Don Bleu. The celebrity panel of judges scheduled to appear include: San Francisco Opera’s Zheng Cao, Composer Gordon Getty, KMEL’s Chuy Gomez, entertainer M.C. Hammer, famed opera composer Jake Heggie, California Shakespeare Theater’s Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone, American Conservatory Theater’s Artistic Director Carey Perloff, ABC7’s Don Sanchez, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director Tony Taccone, ODC’s Artistic Director Brenda Way, San Francisco Symphony Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas and American jazz and cabaret singer Paula West.
Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon has a long-standing commitment to philanthropic efforts in the community and has been involved with numerous charities and organizations including American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, the UCSF Cancer Center, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Child Abuse Prevention Society, AIDS Emergency Fund, among others.