American students are belting out show tunes on social media to make up for high school musical performances that were called off because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Schools have closed across the United States while cultural institutions such as Broadway have been shuttered in a bid to slow the spread of the contagion.
Actress Laura Benanti sparked the Twitter trend after imploring her followers to “find some bright spots” in the public health crisis.
“If you were meant to perform in your High School musical and it was cancelled please post yourself singing,” the Broadway performer tweeted.
Hundreds of students responded to the #SunshineSongs call over the next hours with clips from rehearsals or home renditions of musical numbers from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and other popular theater plays.
A similar trend has taken hold in Italy, with isolated apartment-dwellers taking to their windows and singing in unison, following a series of decrees that have drastically limited movement to contain the virus.
On Friday evening in several districts of Rome, music and singing could be heard coming from people’s homes, including renditions of the national anthem, with videos of the performances racking up thousands of views online.