was conceived by Bella Tillis (1913–2013), a music teacher at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York in 1947.
[1][2] A Library of Congress archive of the papers of entertainer Danny Kaye, who went to high school with Tillis,[3] contains playbills of Sing!
According to The New York Times review of the movie, the film's production notes say that Paul Simon, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Carole King and Neil Sedaka, who attended various Brooklyn and Queens high schools in the mid to late 1950s, took part in Sing!
Inter-Sing first started on Staten Island in the late 1970s between Tottenville and Susan Wagner High Schools.
More recently, Susan E. Wagner High School won the Staten Island competition in 2007 with their Junior production of "The JSV Circus"; Staten Island Technical High School won in 2008 with their Senior-Sophomore production entitled "Carnicus"; and Tottenville High School, which participated for the first time, won in 2009 with Senior Sing X's production of "Narneville", a twisted fairy tale.