It can be hard enough for kids just to get a date to their prom, let alone trying to get Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and pop star Bruno Mars to show up and play the gig.
Yet for one local group of determined tweens and teens, that’s exactly the plan.
Throughout the year, Voorhees resident Marissa Hacker and the “Fantastic Friends” social group she started hold meetups and hangouts where young neuro-typical and special needs kids can come together and have a good time without any social pressure. One of those events is the group’s annual prom in June, and this year Hacker and the group want Mars to headline the event.
However, rather than just shooting off an email to Mars’ publicist, the group decided to be a little more creative. Together, the members of Fantastic Friends have created a music video invite for Mars in which members of the group perform to the beat of Mars’ hit song “Uptown Funk,” albeit with their own rewritten lyrics inviting Mars to the event.
Lines such as “if you sexy then flaunt it” become “if you fantastic then flaunt it” and “Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up” become “We said will you come to prom? Will you come to prom?”
Hacker and her autistic twin brother Matthew also feature prominently in the video as they dance and sing along with other members of the group while wearing suits, sunglasses and hats similar to what Mars wore in the original “Uptown Funk” music video.
Hacker started Fantastic Friends when she found Matthew crying one day at age 15 because he said he didn’t have any friend of his own.
According to Hacker, the idea to invite Mars to play their prom just came to her one day last year when she was trying to drum up themes for this year’s event and she suddenly had a vision of Mars and Fantastic Friends members singing “Uptown Funk.”
“We thought of ways to contact him, and rather than just contacting him and asking him to perform, we thought we’d do something that would impress him and ask him in way that was creative,” Hacker said.
That creativity involved writing new lyrics to “Uptown Funk” and getting Fantastic Friends members together in John Connolly Park for a video shoot.
“It was just the little things like editing and making sure the kids knew all the lyrics and dance steps, and it was long process,” Hacker said.
Despite the hard work, Hacker said she and Fantastic Friends had blast creating the video, and are having even more of a blast promoting it to various news outlets and radio stations.
And promote it they are.
Since releasing the music video, Hacker and the video have already appeared on numerous news websites and radio stations in the tri-state area, as well as some national websites such as Yahoo, MSN and USA Today.
“We have an amazing feeling about this video and everyone has just been so kind and generous in helping us,” Hacker said.
Hacker asks anyone who wants to help spread the video on social media in the hopes that Mars notices it and decides to RSVP to the prom.
“He’s just such a caring, sweet, passionate person, and we just think if we had him at our prom, that would be amazing and it would help promote our mission of loving people for who they are and providing inclusion for people with special needs,” Hacker said.
The video can be found on YouTube by searching “Bruno Mars: Your Invitation to Fantastic Friends Prom. Supporters can also help by using the hashtag “#BrunoMarsProm2016” on Twitter.
As in previous year, this year’s Fantastic Friends prom is scheduled for June.
Those who wish to help the group outside of getting Mars to play the prom can donate to the event or become a sponsor by reaching out to Fantastic Friends on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fantasticfriendsgroup.
