Move over, Gabourey — it’s mama’s time to shine.
While auditioning for “America’s Got Talent,” Alice Tan Ridley — Oscar nominee and hometown girl Gabourey Sidibe’s mom — wowed judges and audience alike with her stellar performance of the Etta James classic, “At Last.”
“My daughter is a big star, but I’m still pursuing my dream, which is to become a great singer,” Ridley, 58, said during Tuesday night’s episode, originally filmed last April.
“I was singing since I was young, now I’m singing underground in the subway stations,” she said, something she’s been doing for the past 20 years.
Early on, Ridley used the money she made singing in New York City subways to supplement the income she made as a nursery school teacher and Department of Education teacher’s aide, but has since made singing her full-time job. That’s led to private gigs, performances abroad and a role in the 2005 movie “Heights,” in which she played a subway singer.
Piers Morgan said Ridley’s soulful “AGT” performance was “in terms of raw talent, [the] best audition of the day,” after she brought the audience at the Hammerstein Ballroom to their feet.
She got three enthusiastic “yesses” from the judges and was given the go-ahead to compete in the Las Vegas rounds, which will air on July 6 and 7. (The Vegas episodes were filmed last month. The first live show airs on July 18.)
While waiting for her episode to air — during which viewers will find out if she passed muster to compete in the Top 48 — Ridley is back home in New York where life goes on as usual.
In her case, this means going back to singing in the subways. A frequent performer under the MTA’s Music Under New York program, she is currently scheduled for four performances next week (see sidebar), the first of which is Monday night at 6 p.m.
As Ridley said on “AGT,” “I love singing in the subways, I love to see the smiles on people’s faces.”