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The Spectator • March 21, 2022
Senior - SING!
Masquerade Murders By MOMOCA MAIRAJ and MAYA NELSON When a white letter with a blood red seal containing an invitation to a masquerade ball is handed to you, how could you possibly say no? After producing SophFrosh SING! in his freshman year and coordinating SING! for the past two years, Alec Shafran was back in action for his final year as Senior SING! Coordinator. With producers Avni Garg, Ella Krechmer, Elizabeth Stansberry, and Ava Yap, the group worked tirelessly to create a performance with daring twists and innovative choreography, nailing the mysterious theme of “Masquerade” with detailed sets and costumes. The show opened to sparkling dresses and a jazzy rendition of Copacabana sung by Candy (Leah D’Silva) and Kanye South (Michael Borczuk), the heads of the traditionally wealthy South family. This year, they hosted the STD (which stands for Sing the Dance, not what you were thinking) masquerade ball at the KanCandy mansion to celebrate the couple’s 25th anniversary as well as their daughter North Dakota South’s (Cynthia Tan) entrance into high society. The costume crew’s work
shone through in Candy’s green dress and later in her white hoop dress, as well as in the elaborate masks of the characters. The opening sequence set the stage (literally) for a lively, dramatic show with dazzling sets and an upbeat soundtrack. The scene suddenly transitioned to Café Ramirez, with the chorus singing Bohemian Rhapsody. We meet Scaramouche (Samuel Espinal Jr), Fandango “Dingus” (Clara Shapiro), and Frances Francis (Christine Lin), low class commoners desperate to fit into upper class society. When an invitation to STD is dropped in front of them, along with many sausages, the three decide to attend the ball in hopes of finding love, climbing the social ranks, and, of course, eating more sausages. We then went back to the KanCandy mansion where North and Montana Hanna (Katherine Yo), best friends since childhood, prepared for the ball. When Candy entered, the tension between her and Montana was clear—Candy refused to let her daughter associate with her, for reasons that were never fully explained. Audiences were left expecting a resolution to this conflict that never ended up arriving, one of the major lacking
points in the plot. Midway through the scene, the Belly and Bolly dancers, the only Belly and Bolly crews of all of the grades, sashayed in. The choreography began with a traditional belly dance, but halfway through, the music switched to a modernized beat and the Bolly crew with lehenga costumes took over. The alluring dancing made for an engaging and unique performance, one of the highlights of all of the dancing crews across all shows. In the ball, Bolly had another performance creating a romantic ambience with Frances inserting cheesy pickup-lines throughout. Soon after, North met Frances and hinted at a possible love interest that was unfortunately never developed in the story. In a confusing interaction, Fandango and Scaramouche suddenly appeared on stage and accidentally took Montana, thinking she was Frances, while Frances lay on the floor. After Frances woke up, Kanye introduced the guests to the ball reading off of speech cards, the humor of the scene landing due to Michael’s delivery. The garden was elaborately decorated, with floral bouquets, a banquet table, and beautiful statues. Hip-hop and Stap (Step and Tap) then took
