A food drive for City Harvest was held earlier today in tandem with open auditions for the new cast of "Hair." NY1's Roger Clark was there and filed the following report.

After nine hours on a cold sidewalk in the East Village, Deema Salem got her shot at a Broadway dream.

Salem was one of an estimated 1,000 people who lined up for an open, non-equity casting call for the Broadway hit "Hair.” They were vying for 26 spots, as the original cast takes the 1960s musical to London.

"I'm definitely going to be seen, and I love the show,” said Salem. “I saw it when it was in the park, and any opportunity to audition for something this big, Broadway, is worth waiting for."

"I honestly didn't think there would be this many people, but I figured if we got here early enough that we would be able to be seen and our faces would be fresh in their minds that there was a possibility we would get a job," said another "Hair" hopeful.

In the spirit of the show's themes of peace, love and helping others, those auditioning were asked to contribute to a food drive being conducted by the food rescue organization City Harvest, which says the demand for food just keeps growing.

"Our agency partners are reporting a 15 percent increase,” said Shannon Barbuto of City Harvest. “In some cases, they are turning people away."

"It's always exciting spending a day seeing talented actors, but it means even more that we are contributing somehow to our community here in New York," said the Public Theater Casting Director Heidi Griffiths.

The “Hair” hopefuls said they were happy to lend a hand.

"I think that's great that they are doing that and there are so many people here, there's got to be a great turnout, so hopefully there is a lot of food for them,” said a participant.

The new cast of “Hair” takes the stage on Broadway on March 9th.

For more information on how to donate to City Harvest, go to CityHarvest.org.