With one week down in the semester, plans for Freshman Follies have already taken off with the selection of six freshmen co-chairs.
“Challenge Accepted” is the theme of the 45th annual production of the variety show. Nick Tatum, Assistant Director of Student Productions, said freshmen “are accepting the challenge of coming to college and they’re faced with new opportunities and new challenges.”
Tatum, who will serve as director of Follies this year, said he and Tom Craig want the freshman to be involved, have fun and participate to develop new relationships and get to know each other on a deeper level. Tatum said Follies is designed for freshmen to engage with their fellow peers and sets the pace for their on-campus involvement in their college years to come.
The 2017 Freshman Follies co-chairs are:
- Shelly Ahmed, freshman undeclared major from Richardson
- Lauren Wertheim, freshman global studies major from Abilene
- Sarah Hall, freshman computer science major from Schertz
- Abby Ware, freshman undeclared major from Hurst
- Marlow Davis, freshman communication major from Denver City
- Aleksander Cook, freshman biochemistry major from Flower Mound
Follies is intentionally only four weeks long so that it will not interfere with academics, Tatum said.
Tom Craig, director of student organizations and productions, has produced Follies for the past 11 years.
“Follies is a great way for new students to do something fun, creative, silly, with the people [they] live with,” he said. “A lot of what creates the dynamics of the show is what [the participants] create out of their own imagination.”
Follies is primarily a student-run production orchestrated by the co-chairs and hall directors. Usually, the show consists of about 13 hall acts comprised of freshmen living in the residence halls, four specialty acts – which are similar to talent show acts – and one dance team.
For more information on Freshman Follies or to sign-up for auditions go to tinyurl.com/acufollies. For those interested in participating in the dance act, auditions will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in Cullen Auditorium.