Just call Edward R. Murrow H.S. student Julie Reed “Ms. Marvel” – and a nifty thespian to boot.
The plucky 18-year-old was the picture of triumph when she shared the spotlight with her peers in the nation’s first school production of “The Producers,” she ignited the stage in the Mel Brooks’ musical comedy – the same stage where she nearly collapsed with cancer 18 months ago after performing in “Gypsy.”
Thanks to her indomitable spirit and the unflagging support of her family, friends and doctors, Reed conquered abdominal cancer, completed all her classes and miraculously recovered in time to play the female lead of the Swedish bombshell “Ulla.”
In between her ordeal, the spunky teen found time to mentor and counsel camp kids with cancer before returning to Murrow, 1600 Avenue L, to audition for the 1968 classic, which chronicles the zany antics of a pair of theatrical producers who plot to get rich by inflating interest in a Broadway flop.
An interesting sidenote for her, Reed told reporters, was that, this time around, she didn’t experience stage fright, quipping, “I’m like, ‘Why am I so relaxed?’”
Edward R. Murrow was the first school in the nation to perform “The Producers.”
