For the last four months, the Spring Sing executive committee has spent countless hours to host a long-standing tradition on the Oklahoma Christian University campus.
The executive committee is in charge of various aspects of Spring Sing including building sets, organizing practices, selling advertisements, picking out costumes and other responsibilities that make the production possible.
Senior Hannah Lorentz is the executive director of the show this year, “Land That We Love.” Lorentz has served on the committee for the last three years, as Lobby and Costume Coordinator her sophomore year and assistant director her junior year.
“Spring Sing means people coming together, having a good time and doing something they like,” Lorentz said. “Spring Sing is late nights and getting stressed out, but getting to spend time with your best friends all the time.”
Spring Sing is a student-run show, where production and direction of the show is organized by students. Preparation for the show starts after Spring Break the previous year, after new executive committee members are chosen, but picks up after Christmas Break.
This year’s executive staff includes Assistant Director Jonathan Johnson, Club Coordinator Jake Whiteley, Producer Zekariah McNeal, Advertisement Coordinator Brandyn Treat, Treasurer Kristen Wheeler, Lobby and Costume Coordinator Emily Williams, Vocal Coach Kendall Haliburton, Band Director David Burmeier and Stage Director Chance Turner.
“There are so many people that put so much time to make this possible,” Lorentz said. “People just think the stage is there and all the stuff is hung up, and that you just go and watch. But there is so much that goes into it and so many people that work countless hours to make it what it is.”
Amanda Watson, faculty advisor, is in her fifth year overseeing the Spring Sing production and executive committee.
“Even though it can be hard, my favorite part is working with the students,” Watson said. “Watching them become leaders and be really proud of the things they get to do. I like watching them grow and be pushed in these leadership positions.”
Lorentz, Johnson, Watson and Whiteley spend their evenings watching practices, working with the hosts and meeting with the technical crew.
“We have a lot of meetings with our executive staff, where we go over what needs to be done,” Lorentz said. “A typical night would be getting here around 5 p.m., hopping from practice to practice or meeting to meeting and leaving when it all ends.”
Lorentz said she thinks the executive staff puts in 20-30 hours a week working, organizing and overseeing Spring Sing.
“Jake, my club coordinator, probably puts in close to 40 hours a week, which is a full work load,” Lorentz said. “He gets here in the evenings and doesn’t leave until 11:30 p.m.”
Jonathan Parker and Chance Turner are in charge of directing the 11 members of the technical crew, which sets up and runs the sound and lights, builds the ramp and stage and works on the stage design.
“We started four weeks before the show, making sure we had everything rented that needed to be rented, like the sound equipment and lights, and that everything was ready for our build days,” Turner said.
During the show, the technical crew will be running the sound and lights, and managing backstage for the hosts and the performing clubs. According to Turner, everything technical, aside from the videos shot by Verb1, falls under his crew’s umbrella.
This year’s show will feature a new stage design to include a video screen above the band that will display video and images during the club and host performances.
“It was a hard theme to think of a backdrop for the stage, “Lorentz said. “So marketing helped me come up with the idea of something three-dimensional and we thought of a video wall. So we just went for it. “
The shows are Friday, March 4th at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 5th at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The Saturday night show is already sold out, however, tickets for Friday night and Saturday afternoon can be purchased online or in the box office.
0
0
Be First to Comment