Show Tunes Spanning Generations: SUSCC’s Spring Show Tickets on Sale

CONTRIBUTED BY SUSCC / KATIE JACKSON

WADLEY —

Tunes from Broadway, movies and hit songs have a way of bridging generations, and this month those tunes will also bring together two generations of Southern Union State Community College (SUSCC) performing arts students as SUSCC’s Show Choir puts on its 2023 spring production, "There's No Tune Like a Show Tune."

On stage for three nights, April 26 to 28, at Brazeal Auditorium on Southern Union’s Wadley campus, will be an ensemble of talented SU students singing and dancing their way through such beloved stage and screen hits as “Parade,” “Hamilton,” “Newsies,” “Mary Poppins,” “Rent,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Vivo”, as well as songs made famous by The Beatles, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Otis Redding, Lady Gaga, Annie Lennox, Neil Diamond and many others.

Among the students on that stage will be Lilly Mills, a freshman at SUSCC from Lee County’s Beulah community. In the audience will be her mother,

SUSCC Show Choir alumna Lynda Oliver Whaley, and her brother, recent SUSCC theater alumnus Oliver Mills. There in spirit from Kentucky will be her aunt, also a Show Choir alumna and the very first Miss Southern Union, Lisa Oliver Singleton. This family’s stage tradition began back in 1982 when Singleton arrived at SUSCC’s Wadley campus from Lanett High School in Chambers County on a scholarship awarded to her as the newly crowned Miss Chattahoochee Valley. At the time, Singleton had little experience as a singer beyond church choir. But SUSCC’s music and Show Choir directors, Jimmy New and the late Ann Caldwell, set to work helping her prepare for the Miss Alabama pageant and also got her involved in Show Choir. Singleton went on to compete in other pageants, winning the Miss Southern Union crown in 1984, which allowed her to compete a second time in the Miss Alabama pageant.

But her SUSCC experience was beneficial far beyond the pageant world. It also helped her build confidence, self-esteem and lifelong friendships. According to Singleton, coming from a small high school to SUSCC was ideal for her because the teachers helped her make a much easier transition to college life. In addition to New and Caldwell, Singleton said former speech teacher Louise Cox also had a huge impact on her life.

“I used to be a very shy person,” she said. “I did not want to get up in front of people, but Mrs. Cox made it comical, which made it fun.”

In 1984, Whaley followed her sister to Wadley on an academic scholarship her first year and on a performing arts scholarship her second year. She, too, felt lucky to have New and Caldwell as mentors, she said.

“They were the best,” Whaley said.

While juggling Show Choir and school was not easy, it taught Whaley and Singleton how to manage responsibilities and priorities, and the sisters both said they always knew their professors and advisors were there to support them.

“It was hard work, but we had fun,” Whaley said. “And with any group like that you become family, and you love each other and take care of each other.”

Like their mother and aunt, Oliver and Lilly had little experience in the performing arts before coming to SUSCC, but they, too, were encouraged and mentored from the moment they arrived at SUSCC’s Wadley campus. In fact, Oliver credits theater professor Michael Williams for recognizing his potential as an actor.

“I didn’t have a huge background in theater, and some of [my fellow students] had been doing production after production,” he said. “I was like a tiny minnow, and they were like giant fish, but Mr. Williams still saw my potential.”

Oliver started as a stagehand when he first came to SU in 2018 and, before he graduated in 2020, he held major acting roles in two SUSCC theater productions. He is now a senior minoring in drama and majoring in communications at Auburn University and said he hopes to someday work in broadcasting, where his stage experience at SU may come in quite handy.

Lilly, who is ending her first year at SUSCC, said she has loved being part of Show Choir and finding her own place on the stage. According to Lilly, her family’s positive experiences at SUSCC made applying there and becoming involved in the college’s performing arts program an easy decision, especially after attending her brother’s shows.

“It was crazy to me because [while watching them] I would forget that these were college students,” she said. “It was that good.”

Now that she is onstage herself, Lilly said she has found enjoyment in the combination of singing and dancing, and she is excited to see what this upcoming show will bring.

One thing it will definitely bring is a chance for Whaley, Singleton, Oliver and Lilly to share the intergenerational experience of the SUSCC stage — a family affair. But that makes sense to them all.

“My first thought when I think of Southern Union is ‘family,’” Whaley said. “That’s just what it is.”

And while not everyone in the room may be family, it’s possible for everyone to enjoy the intergenerational joy of great showtunes by attending this year’s spring show. Tickets for the performances, which will be held at 7 p.m. each evening, are on sale now. Tickets are available online by visiting suscc. edu.