The 58th Sing Song will take full advantage of its Valentine’s Day opening with a theme of “What about Love?” and a show full of romance.
Altogether, more than 1,000 students will participate in the annual event this weekend. Social clubs, both men and women and class acts will compete for the best three-and-a-half-minute medley. Each act has prepared its own sub-theme and remixed popular songs into a lyrical parody. The groups will be judged by a mixed panel of alumni, professionals from the entertainment sector and members of the faculty and staff. The acts will be scored based on their vocals, choreography and costumes.
Students will perform three shows spread out across two days. Shows will take place at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday.
The sophomore class performs their Sing Song act during Thursday night's show. (Optimist photo by Melany Cox)
Even though Abilene’s constantly changing weather has affected much of campus life, the attendance for Sing Song has almost filled up all three days, Craig said. Saturday night is always the fastest to sell out and most of the 2 p.m. show is sold out as well. The only chance of buying a ticket is for the Friday show, which still has some good seats left, he said.
Sing Song will be hosted by a group of six hosts and hostesses. Students audition for the roles in the fall semester each year and begin practicing for the spring show. Comprising of three men and three women, the lineup does more than emcee for the show but contributes their own entertainment with singing and dancing alongside an ACU student jazz band and dance crews.
“They have been great to work with,” said Sing Song co-chair Zeke Morgan, junior psychology major from Keller. “I think the hosts and hostesses are one of the best among the years. They have been taking care of their voices better than the previous shows that I’ve seen before.”
The main sales for Sing Song come from ticketing. In addition, Sing Song shirts, flowers and DVDs are sold. Together with the advertising of the show, Sing Song receives sponsors and donors.
While preparations for this weekend are being completed, Tom Craig, director of student productions, and his team of co-chairs have been working to make sure Moody Coliseum is prepared for the coming attendance.
Co-chair Brady Johnson, senior multimedia major from Round Rock, is handling the business, marketing and house of Sing Song. Co-chair Amanda Clary, senior marketing major from Denton, is overseeing downstage and props. Co-chairs Ashley Crisp, junior communication disorders major from Dallas, and Morgan are coordinating the upstage acts. The downstage will consist of the hosts, hostesses, dance and band while the upstage will have the acts entering on and off the stage. This allows transition time between each act.
Even though each co-chair has a specific job, the members work together to act as leaders and producers for the groups and behind stage, Crisp said.
“It’s been crazy, but I love every minute of being a co-chair,” she said. “They are great people to work with. We laugh and joke around and the stress just makes it more fun.”
Morgan said he expects the planning stage to be the easy part of his role.
“The hardest part of Sing Song is the first 10 minutes of the show where I have to run around and make sure everything is going well. Compared to that, the rest of the show is a piece of cake,” he said.
Marc Gutierrez, junior music education and vocal performance major from Cedar Park, leads the men of Pi Kappa during their Sing Song act. (Optimist photo by Deanna Romero)
Planning for Sing Song is a year-round event, and the theme for the next year’s show typically is announced immediately after the Sing Song winners. This allows the Sing Song management team to spend time on a well-made story for the audience, Craig said.
“This year has a stronger theme development because of a story line that will flow throughout the show,” Craig said. “The show will end in a celebration that will create a lot of energy and excitement. The audience can expect a rollercoaster of emotions.”
As each act will have its own theme within the show, a broad spectrum of love will be covered, Morgan said.
The dates of the Sing Song shows are released early each year, thus, planning is focused on capitalizing events that are unique around Sing Song, Craig said.
“The show is expected to explore all angles of love. And it follows a progressive thread of boy meets girl, they fall in love, the relationship continues,” he said, “at some point they hit a snag falling out of love, but then they come back together and find a new, deeper love that they never had before.”
The sixteen groups will be:
Social clubs: women, Alpha Kai Omega, GATA, Ko Jo Kai, Sigma Theta Chi, and Zeta Rho; men, Frater Sodalis, Gamma Sigma Phi, Galaxy, Pi Kappa, Sub T-16, and Trojans; and IBM.
Class acts: Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen.
The 2014 hosts and hostesses are:
- Chris Balsly, senior management major from North Richland Hills.
- Emily Dixon, senior family studies major from Dallas
- Chelsea Emberlin, junior elementary education major from Forney
- Rodney Johnson, junior finance and international studies major from Odessa
- Caroline Nikolaus, senior psychology major from Nashville, Tenn.
- Trey Wrape, senior youth and family ministry major from Rowlett
This year’s co-chairs consist of:
- Amanda Clary, senior marketing major from Denton
- Ashley Crisp, junior communication disorders major from Dallas
- Brady Johnson, senior multimedia major from Round Rock
- Zeke Morgan, junior psychology major from Keller
