First lady to honor grade-school students from Manhattan theater arts program

Music does not have to be heard but simply be in one's heart for it to become a passion, said 15-year-old Marianna Bottier, raised on the Lower East Side by deaf parents in a home without music.

"I was never exposed to music," said Bottier, whose interests in the performing arts flourished when she became part of Rosie's Theater Kids, a free arts and humanities program near the Theater District for public school children mostly living in low-income neighborhoods.

"I was in the fifth-grade when Rosie's Kids came to my school and played music. I listened to the music and I knew right then that I wanted to be a part of it," she said. "I was in the seventh grade when I went to my first Broadway show. . . . I was so close to the stage that it felt like I was with the characters."

Bottier and 11 other students in the program will meet Tuesday at the White House with first lady Michelle Obama. She will present Rosie's Theater Kids with the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program award -- the nation's highest honor given to a youth program. Rosie's Theater Kids will also receive a $10,000 grant.

The students will perform a "mash-up" of songs from Cyndi Lauper, Alicia Keys and George Gershwin among others. Lauper, Keys and Gershwin attended New York City public schools and serve as an inspiration to her and other students, Bottier said.

"We are recognizing their contribution to music and the arts," she said of the three entertainers. "You can be from the city and go to public school and still be famous and have a successful career."

Rosie's Theater Kids has enrolled 50,000 city school children from pre-K to 12th grade since 2003. It's among 50 programs nationwide selected for the honor by the White House.

Lori Klinger, co-founder with Rosie O'Donnell and artistic director of Rosie's Theater Kids, said the program also helps schoolchildren prepare for academic success.

"We rehearse for life. Show up on time. Be prepared and be ready to give 100 percent."

A retired ballerina, Klinger said the program teaches children "to be very kind; be supportive and not giggle when someone is up there performing. It teaches us to pick ourselves up after we make a mistake and keep going."

The White House recognized Rosie's Theater Kids as one of the best in the nation for teaching music, theater, dance and academic enrichment, including tutoring, college preparation and scholarships.

Excited and nervous to meet the first lady, Bottier said Rosie's Theater Kids has given her "hope that I can go to college. I am afraid that financially I will not be able to go but I know Rosie's Kids is going to help."

Bottier's aunt Ronnie Ramkishun said, "Marianna's mother was crying when she left for D.C. She can't believe it. She is proud that her daughter loves to dance, sing and hear music."