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The Glory Days: Women’s clubs replicate old acts

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Delta Theta performed as genies in 1998. (Photo courtesy of Student Productions)

Alpha Kai Omega, genies – Kaios Make Your Wish Come True – replicating Delta Theta’s 1989 act.

Director: Samantha Jeffries, senior nursing major from North Richland Hills

“At first we were juggling several ideas, we had so many options and didn’t really have a strong direction until we looked at genies from the 1998 Delta Theta act,” Jeffries said. “Once we started talking about it and starting brainstorming ideas, we started coming up with so many options. It just took off from there. Ultimately we made the decision a day or two before we had to select our theme.”
Jeffries said they enjoyed the act because it was fun to watch, and would be easy to replicate.
“The costumes from the original act deeply inspired our costumes this year. Of course, we had to change the yarn wigs that were really popular back in then and add our own sparkle to it. In the original act, the choreography was a bit slow, and the song already has a slow pace so we wanted to spice it up a bit with more engaging choreography.”
Though they struggled to find a song that fits into the story as they’d written it, they had no issue keeping similarity to the Delta Theta act in their costumes.
“As we have progressed, we’ve been able to make changes and improvements that make our costumes different enough from the original act that the audience won’t think we dug them out of the archives and put them on,” Jeffries said.
Most of all, Jeffries said they are most excited for the Kaio Klock and where it falls in the act.
“We used three Disney songs and we are so excited to bring the magic to life with those songs especially,” Jeffries said. “We really think the final song when we break out of our lamp is especially powerful and we hope that the audience enjoys it as much as we do.”

Delta Theta performed as Dogs in 1973. (Photo Courtesy of Student Productions)

Delta Theta, dogs – Ain’t Nothin’ But a Pound Dog – replicating Delta Theta’s 1973 act.

Director: Sierra Brock, junior nursing major from Princeton, New Jersey
“It was a difficult process choosing the theme because my co-director and I were not always in agreement about the theme,” Brock said. “We spent many planning sessions just talking about themes and it was one of the hardest decisions we had to make as directors.”

Brock said the theme of dogs sparked their imagination most.

“Whatever theme we had, I wanted us to be passionate about it and everyone had so much passion for the dog theme that I thought that we could take that theme the farthest. We didn’t stick very much to the original storyline because we wanted to be creative with it, so we just took one song from that act turned it into a story of our own.”

The most exciting part, Brock said, was to see everything they’ve created come to life on stage.

“Being the Sing Song director is a bit surreal for me because it’s been a dream of mine to be Sing Song director ever since I did Sing Song as a freshman,” Brock said.  “I never thought that it would actually happen. We have learned a lot about dogs and a lot about how to create a Sing Song act through this whole process, but most importantly we have learned a lot about each other.”

Alpha Theta Chi Omega performs as clowns in 1992. (Photo courtesy of Student Productions)

GATA, clowns – The GATA Show on Earth – replicating Alpha Theta Chi Omega’s 1992 act.

Director: Hannah Webb, senior accounting major from Arlington
Webb said she heard through the grapevine this year’s “theme” was going to be throwback, so she started researching GATA’s old acts, and wanted to replicate the 2000 GATA Ringmaster act.
“It was unique and full of excitement. When we found out that we could only recreate acts before 2000, I was really disappointed to have to change themes. However, we were able to find a similar theme: Circus Clowns. My initial vision for the act obviously had to change, but the overall circus theme remained.”
In order to stay true to the 2000 GATA Ringmaster Act, Webb said they will have both clowns and ringmasters on stage.
“The clowns arrive late to the circus and cause tension between the ringmasters and clowns. However, they realize at the end that they need each other in order for the circus to be effective.
“I honestly can’t even tell you what group performed this act or what year this act is from,” Webb said. “I don’t even know if I ever watched the original act all the way through. I wasn’t impressed with the original act, but I knew we could make it great. Other than using one song from the act, we are pretty much recreating it and making it our own”
Webb said she is most excited to have two different characters on stage and execute the back-and-forth storyline.
“When Allie Jo and I were creating this act, our goal was to find things that had never been done before on the Sing Song stage. We have some exciting choreography that I can’t wait for everyone to see.”

The junior class performed as people on a safari in 1999. (Photo courtesy of Student Productions)

Ko Jo Kai, safari people – We’ll ‘Giraffe’  You Wild and We Ain’t ‘Lion’ – replicating the Junior act of 1999.

Director: Halle Magee, senior biology major from Flower Mound
“It took me and Hanna about a week to figure out exactly what we wanted to replicate and that discussion happened in the last few weeks of the semester,” Magee said. “We loved the Juniors 1999 safari act because it had some really really funny moments – like singing about getting mosquito bites in the jungle – but we also saw a lot of potential for improvement in diction and dynamic contrast.”
The best part, Magee said, was replicating parts of the act to be more entertaining.
“It’s been really fun to take an idea that’s been done and make it our own, and all the girls in the act have been so ready to have fun with it,” Magee said.

The women of GATA performed as Mary Poppins in 1991. (Photo courtesy of Student Productions)

Sigma Theta Chi, Mary Poppins – Siggiecalifragilisticexpialidocious – replicating the GATA act of 1991.

Director: Elizabeth Elliot, junior interdisciplinary studies/early education major from Fort Worth
“We decided to replicate an act from 1991 in October,” Elliot said. “It took us a while to come around to actually liking the idea of doing Mary Poppins but we kept thinking of more and more ideas on how to make this a magical act and we were sold.”
Elliot said they chose the theme because they loved the magical, cheery aspect it brought and all the songs they could choose from the original movie.
“The original act needed some improvement and we believed that we could recreate it to be something amazing,” Elliot said. “It was also very convenient that the movie came out last December.”
In addition to seeing everyone’s faces while she directs, Elliot said she’s most excited for everyone to enjoy the act.
“This is such a fun and cheery act and I know everyone’s faces will show that,” Elliot said. “These girls have worked really hard and I know they will want the audience to enjoy it as much as they do.”

Galaxy performed as race car drivers in 1997. (Photo courtesy of Student Productions)

Tri Kappa Gamma, race car drivers – Place Your Bets on Car 86 – replicating Galaxy’s 1997 act.

Director: Kammi Wonner, senior nursing major from Glendale

“We actually already had the idea of race car drivers before we knew the theme, so once we saw it was one of the options, we jumped all over it last semester,” Wonner said.  “It didn’t take long to make that decision. We wanted to go outside the box of typical girl Sing Song acts, which is why we were drawn to a guys act.”

Wonner said the Kappas are using two of the same songs, including “Kiss the Girl,” and some of the same choreography.

“We wanted to honor the Moonies by using some of their original ideas because it was such a good act,” Wonner said. “I’m hoping we catch the audience by surprise since the theme and act we are doing is a little different than what TKG has done in the past.”
Read about the men’s acts here.
Read about the class acts here.

About Lauren Franco

My name is Lauren and I'm the Editor in Chief of the Optimist this year. I'm an avid fan of romantic comedies, the First Amendment and national parks. More than anything, I'm passionate about storytelling via photographs, and love getting to know the heart of people through my lens.

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