Klein ISD asks community to sing it out on social media while school is closed

KLEIN, Texas (KTRK) -- A social media movement is bringing smiles during a tough time, and a local school district is helping to spread that magic.

Tony Award winning actress Laura Benanti is encouraging students to keep performing, even while they're out of school using #SunshineSongs on Twitter.

"If you would like to sing a song that you are not going to get to, sing now and tag me. I want to see you. I want to hear it," Benanti said in a video on Twitter.

The movement came about after many school productions were cancelled amid recommendations to limit large gatherings of more than 50 people to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Several schools are also shut down.

Benanti wrote in a post on Twitter that she wanted to be the audience for students who couldn't perform.

Fellow Broadway star, "Hamilton" creator and Tony award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda retweeted Benanti's post, saying that he's also watching the sunshine songs.

Locally, Klein ISD started its own hashtag "musicallyinKLEINed" to celebrate the talented musicians and thespians in the community.

Fine Arts director Joel Wren shared the first #musicallyinKLEINed video. He played "An die Musik" on his trombone.

Since Wren's video, several more have uploaded their own videos in the Twitter thread.

Videos can be uploaded through Flipgrid by following this link and clicking the green button with the plus sign.