By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief
Fifty years ago last week, George W. Bush was 10 years old, man had yet to venture into space, Dr. John Willis was still a student at ACC, and not every group performing in the earliest Sing Song productions had even decided on its music yet.
Fifty years turned one boy into the president of the United States and made Neil Armstrong and John Glenn household names. It also turned the dream of an administrator of one small West Texas college into the biggest annual production of the year for the university.
As the university prepares for the 50th annual Sing Song this weekend, those involved with the show-some since its beginning in 1957-can’t help but look back and remember the show as it has evolved through parts of six decades.
Bob Hunter, senior vice president emeritus and Sing Song director for its first six years, remembers wanting to have a Sing Song-esque production when he was a senior at ACC in 1952, and he took his idea to the school’s administration.
“The administration did not approve of a campuswide Sing Song at that time,” Hunter said.
That year, Hunter and other students settled for a quartet competition, which gave students a taste of what Sing Song could be.
Hunter said he thought a singing competition would be fitting for a college known as the “singing school.” ACC earned the nickname when its football team would sing together at away games.
His graduation and four years in the Navy could not kill Hunter’s dream of a campuswide singing competition.
After being hired by ACC and beginning in 1956 as director of Special Events, Hunter lobbied successfully for Sing Song but not without some skepticism. To convince the rest of the administration it would be a serious, professional show, Hunter made Lewis Fulks, professor emeritus and former chair of the Theatre Department, after whom the theatre in the Williams Performing Arts Center is now named, technical director of the show.
Sing Song premiered Feb. 14, 1957, but the first show looked much different than this weekend’s 50th show.
Acts contained no choreography, hand movements, costumes or costume changes. Groups competed in only one category, and any group-including social clubs, the faculty men’s glee club, the W Club and the Aggie Club-could participate. Twenty-three groups participated in 1957. In the earliest shows, some of the groups did not even select music until a week or two before the show.
Groups performed on sets of risers in Sewell Auditorium. Dr. Gary McCaleb, vice president of the university and director of Sing Song from 1964 to 1972, said this small perfoid.
Sing Song changed venues three times in its first 13 years. After consistently selling out Sewell Auditorium for five years, even after adding a second performance, the show moved to the Abilene High School auditorium in 1963 and then to Moody Coliseum when it was built in 1969.
Hunter remembers 1969, not because of the move to Moody Coliseum, but because of an addition that no modern Sing Song act lacks: choreographed hand movements.
“When the freshman class performed the Wizard of Oz medley, they started using choreography and movements, and they received a standing ovation,” Hunter said. “Sing Song was forever changed then.”
As the competition grew more serious, the time it took to coordinate acts grew as well. Hunter said this likely caused group participation to evolve. Although any group could perform any act for Sing Song, most students chose to participate in either their social club or class acts as the show progressed.
Of the original 23 groups, six-all social clubs-still participate today: Delta Theta, Frater Sodalis, Galaxy, GATA, Ko Jo Kai and Sub T-16.
“One of the great things about Sing Song is that it’s so much of a student production,” McCaleb said. “It is really amazing to see the talent of those students who make it happen every year.”
Sometimes, students put those Sing Song talents to use after their graduation, Hunter said.
Although he may not remember all their names, Hunter can list more than a dozen people off the top of his head who have gone on to have successful careers with the experiences they gained from Sing Song.
He rattles off a lighting director for the winter Olympics, graphic designers for major firms, singers, producers in the entertainment and music businesses and winners of arts awards.
“You could just have a long list of alumni who went on to do great things in their professional life because of the experience they got while working on Sing Song,” Hunter said.
The legend continues
Sing Song grew out of the Alumni Association years ago to become part of Campus Life with its own director and budget. And, although the performance looks much different today than it did in 1957, Hunter said many alumni come back every year because of their memories of the show.
“I hope we will never forget that Sing Song is for the student groups to perform and to have that camaraderie,” Hunter said. “I think they form bonds they will have for a lifetime.”
Some alumni return now not only to watch the show they performed in, but to see their children perform.
“When something can last 50 years, it really establishes it’s own niche in the university,” McCaleb said. “There are now kids performing whose parents performed in it.”
Although returning alumni will see a very different show than what they performed in, much will still feel oddly familiar.
Even Optimist coverage of the event hasn’t changed much during the past 50 years. The following words were written in the Optimist 25 years ago to commemorate Sing Song’s quarter-century birthday:
“It’s hard to imagine what new turns Sing Song will take, but no doubt in the next few years it will probably go through as many changes as it already has. But through the changing, adding and relocating performances, Sing Song is very much the same show that first began in 1957 to bring the students and alumni together.
“Some students hate the hard work, the strained voices, the makeup and the busy schedules, but they wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. That’s why Sing Song is a legend.”
So much can change in 50 years, and for Sing Song, much has changed. For Sing Song, that means the evolution of a dream into a production that has become a legend in its own time.
That legend continues this weekend.
