Students who survived the shooting earlier this year at a high school in Parkland, Fla., were joined by Broadway and television stars Monday night for a benefit concert.
The event — “From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Parkland, USA” — featured “Glee” actor Matthew Morrison, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star Rachel Bloom and award-winning recording artist Deborah Cox, CNN reported.
The concert was held in Sunrise, Fla., and nearly 5,000 people attended, organizers told CNN.
During the event, the stars joined students from the Parkland high school, local arts groups, the Student Choir of Broward and Dance Theatre of Broward to perform. {mosads}
“Tonight is about them and I’m happy to be here and support them. The kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas are doing what the arts are supposed to do — they are channeling their intense feelings and rage and thoughts into their art, which is a way to communicate with people and make the world better,” Bloom said in an interview before the show.
“This is an example of why theater and the arts in schools is so important,” she said. “It makes me proud to be a fellow theater kid seeing what all these people are doing with theater and music.”
Student Tanzil Philip, who performed during the concert, said parts of the benefit were hard to get through.
“But by the end, the whole thing felt healing,” he told CNN. “It was a healing night.”
The February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School left 17 people dead.
Since the shooting, students have become vocal advocates for gun control, rallying lawmakers to pass new gun laws to prevent shootings.
Last month, hundreds of people in cities across the country marched to protest gun violence and demand change.