Metro

Anne Hathaway shows up at Staten Island’s PS 22, says school choir will perform at Oscars

Call it an early Oscar party.

A group of Staten Island public school kids got the surprise of their lives when actress Anne Hathaway unexpectedly dropped by Thursday night and told them they would perform at the 2011 Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

Kids from the famed PS 22 chorus got an early Christmas present when Hathaway, who is scheduled to co-host the 83rd Academy Awards alongside actor James Franco next year, walked into the auditorium to loud cheers and applause.

The kids from Graniteville couldn’t contain their enthusiasm when Hathaway said, “I’m here to basically invite you guys.”

She was cut off by the loud screams.

The students will be flown to Hollywood to perform on Feb. 27.

“It was emotional mayhem. It was wonderful. It was chaos, but the most wonderful kind you could imagine,” said chorus director Greg Brynburg of Thursday’s announcement. “They just barreled into me and hugged me. … It was one of the most gratifying moments in my career.”

Student Sarah Viega, 10, couldn’t believe it, either.

“The moment keeps playing again, and again and again and again and again,” she said.

Principal Melissa Donuff called it “an opportunity for these children.”

“I mean, it’s just, it’s unbelievable. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” she told WCBS/Channel 2.

Last month, Oscar organizers announced that Franco and Hathaway will be co-hosts of the ceremony.

The announcement creates the prospect that one or both hosts might also be nominees. Franco is considered a solid best-actor prospect for the survival drama 127 Hours, while Hathaway has a chance for a best-actress slot for the romance Love & Other Drugs.

Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer, producers of the Oscar telecast, said it’s not unprecedented for Oscar hosts also to be nominees.

With AP