Video After The Jump
Her kid's an Oscar contender, but this proud Harlem mom is still happily singing for her supper in the subway.
Alice Tan Ridley -- whose 26-year-old daughter, Gabourey Sidibe, won raves and an Academy Award nomination for her gut-wrenching performance in last year's "Precious" -- shows up three times a week at New York's busiest subway stations to wow commuters with her electrifying R&B act.
"My name is not on Gabby's paycheck," the good-natured Ridley told The Post yesterday, after another rousing show in the Times Square underground.
Ridley, a former nursery-school teacher and Department of Education teacher's aide, has been belting out tunes in the subway for 18 years. She was among the first artists featured in the MTA's popular subway artists series, now called Performances in Public Spaces.
"For a while, I was teaching and doing the singing, burning the candle at both ends to support my family," Ridley said.
She eventually made subway singing a full-time job.
"When I come home at the end of the day, I have enough to pay my bills and feed my kids," she said.
"People always say, 'Why don't you sing in clubs?' I tell 'em, 'This is my club.' "
Ridley does perform at private events and has traveled to Chile, Argentina and Germany with her golden pipes. But her usual stages are in the 14th Street/Union Square, 34th Street/Sixth Avenue and Times Square/Eighth Avenue stations.
In recent weeks, she has had to cut her three-hour performances to an hour and a half.
"My voice is so big that it's blown out my amp, so I can't do more than that until I can afford a new amp," said Ridley, whose next gig is today at 4:30 p.m. at 34th Street.
Her singing helped pave the way for her daughter's breakout in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
"Four years ago, they asked me to play the part of the mother," Ridley said. "But being a mom and teacher, I just couldn't play that part. It was just too hard.
"I read the book, and I gave it to Gabby. Her friends encouraged her to try out for 'Precious,' and she got it."
Ridley recalled that when Gabby was a child, people would ask whether she wanted to be a singer like her mother.
"Gabby would say, 'No, I'm gonna be a comedian.' "
Source: NY Post
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