The Talon staff sat down with Reid Reding, the 2019 Spring Sing club coordinator, to discuss this year’s show, as well as what goes on behind the scenes of the production.
What are your responsibilities as club coordinator?
“I’m basically in charge of all the clubs. All the director’s meetings each week, I help man those, scheduling practices, scheduling lock-ins, making sure they’re not doing things they’re not supposed to be doing. Hopefully no fines, but if I have to fine anybody, that’s on me. And, just making sure everyone’s following all of the rules, the bylaws and helping Jenni [Jones] whenever she needs help.”
What is the Spring Sing theme, and why was that theme chosen?
“The theme of Spring Sing this year is ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It?’ We wanted it to be similar to older shows where not every club’s theme was centered around a common denominator. It’s a huge variety, all of the themes. None of them really relate to one another, which I think is pretty cool. It just brings a lot of different perspectives and a lot of dynamic to the show at large.”
Are there any new rules clubs must follow this year as opposed to last year?
“[There’s] not any new rules that I’m aware of. We did work on the judging system, so that’s a little bit different, but rules-wise, not specifically.”
What is your favorite part of being club coordinator?
“Honestly, just being able to go and watch all the practices. We’ve gone the last two nights, which is fun just to see what everyone has in store and hearing their lyrics, seeing their choreography and all that is pretty good.”
What are you most looking forward to with this year’s Spring Sing show?
“I’m looking forward to seeing all the shows at the end. It’s so unique to each club this year, so all the themes just relate to their club specifically, and I think that’s really cool. Seeing how they incorporate why they love their theme into their show, I think that will be really cool. I think the hosts are really good, so I’m excited to hear all the hosts perform also.”
What is your No. 1 goal this year as Spring Sing club coordinator?
“To make sure that everything goes smoothly. Especially during show week, a lot of that’s on me scheduling when each club’s supposed to be there and just taking the pressure off Jenni. That’s a really big thing for me, because I know she has a lot of other stuff on her plate, so just doing my job the best that I can, make sure everything’s scheduled correctly, that kind of stuff. And, for Amanda as well. She is super involved, so relieving some of that stress from her.”
What has been the most challenging part of coordinating the show so far?
“There’s like 21 directors, so just trying to get everything coordinated between all the directors is a little bit of a challenge. They’re good at working through anything that comes up, though. Trying to make sure that I am dividing my time with each club as much as I can and helping them all when they need help. I have a busy semester, but at the same time, this is important to me as well, so I want to make sure that I’m doing that as best as I can for them.”
How does your unique perspective of being a club director and now an executive effect how you’ve approached this position?
“I think it’s really helpful. Last year, I got to see how Cassidy did some things. I didn’t know everything that was going on behind the scenes but I saw a lot of it. I could use that this year to say, ‘Hey, I liked this last year,’ or, ‘I think this could be improved a little bit.’ Getting to watch how Cassidy handled everything last year was really helpful, because she did a great job. I think without being a director, you don’t really know what you’re getting into as much, so it’s super helpful.”
How have you seen Spring Sing change in your time at OC?
“Whenever I came freshman year and did Spring Sing, I feel like everybody was like, ‘Oh, we have to win, we have to win,’ and now I feel like a lot of the clubs are more like, ‘Hey, we want to have a lot of fun with it. It would be cool to win, but that’s not our main focus.’ I think that’s important, because if you’re just focused on winning, the members aren’t going to have as much fun. I think the competition aspect is still there, but I don’t think it’s as strong of a driving force.”
Why would you encourage students to participate in Spring Sing?
“It’s a great way to get to know other students. That’s how I’ve made some of my best friends. Jenni and I became really close freshman year because of Spring Sing, and now we’re on the executive committee together. It’s not an experience you can get on campus in any other way, so I think it’s really important to give it a try. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to continue doing it, but at least try it. Get involved. It’s just a fun time. I think it’s important.”
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