Page 20
The Spectator • March 21, 2022
SING! Features
Behind the Scenes of SING! By THE FEATURES DEPARTMENT
SING! this year returned in-person, off the back ends of last year’s green screen shows. Even with less time on their hands—and for most crews, fewer people— each grade was still able to create fantastic spectacle. Dive into the behind-the-scenes stories that made these shows possible.
By SOOBIN CHOI
By JOSEPHINE BURUMA
Phoebe Buckwalter / The Spectator
A panel of four carnival posters graced the stage on all three nights of Junior SING!. A fierce tiger roars into one frame while the uncanny faces of two clowns stare at one another in the next; from its supreme precision and stunning use of color, it quickly became the crowning jewel of the stage set. The same sentiment is mirrored by Junior SING!’s assistant art director Natalie Soler. “I’m super proud of the canvas; the process for that took ages. But we had a very good initial sketch and collaborative little painting piece that we did.” Soler remembered the perseverance for all the unexpected difficulty of the piece, and the subsequent pride afterwards. “We figured out the general concept pretty quickly. But then the actual execution was much harder than expected, as it was a lot of complex shapes and finding the correct paints. Mixing them properly was always a struggle, but it looks super good,” she said. In addition, there were problems with money and having to manage it. “We had to go through a new vendor for our paints this year, and we had to actually be in charge of buying everything. That was a new experience for us. But we got through it, and everybody had a good time.” Like many other crews in Junior SING! this year, there was a shortage of members, but art was able to finish on time with a relatively relaxed environment. “The vibe was very chill, because nobody was super stressed at all. We had finished everything ahead of time, which is [very] different [from the] performances we had in the past, where it [had] been very down to the wire. This one, we only had to finish two posters before show day, which was very fine,” Soler elaborated. But for all the efforts of the Junior SING! department, there was still disappointment at the loss. “I feel crushed, absolutely obliterated. I wish we had won because I feel like we put so much work into this. And it turned out so good,” Soler said. Even with the terrible feeling of a close race, Soler is looking forward to next year’s SING!. “I will learn to accept this defeat with time. [...] Go Senior SING! class of 2023!”
By SHIVANI MANIMARAN
Afra Mahmud / The Spectator
Dressed as Cupids in flowing pink skirts and holding bows and arrows, the senior bollywood crew released love into the air through their performance. They danced to instrumental versions of Hindi songs “Nainowale Ne” and “Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye,” which translate to “the one with beautiful eyes” and “the one who appears in my dreams” respectively. It may have come as a surprise for some to see them, as Bollywood isn’t often included in the lineup for SING! out of concern that it would be too rooted in Indian culture and language to fit the theme. However this isn’t necessarily always the case, as director Etiha Ahmed explained. “When I was a sophomore, the seniors also had bolly because their theme was Hollywood and they were able to incorporate it really well,” she said. She also described the role of Avni Garg in adding bolly to the lineup this year. As one of the producers of Senior SING!, as well as a director of Bollywood herself for the Stuysquad ‘21 and ‘22 performances, Garg aimed to give her crew a moment in the spotlight. “I really just have to thank Avni. She is the main person who was able to include bolly and let bolly be a crew this year,” Ahmed said. Being usually excluded from the crew lineup created added expectation for Ahmed. “I also had the pressure to make bolly perform really really well so that they would want a bolly for the next senior SING! and so we wouldn’t get cut,” she said. Ahmed spent hours with her crew choosing songs, scrutinizing the choreography, and most of all, drilling and drilling their set. On the flip side, the hours spent together with friends solidified the bonds within senior bolly’s dancers. “It’s a really stressful part of the whole experience, but nonetheless I think it was really worth it,” she said. “The best part was my crew and being with my friends. That’s just the main thing for Sing, being with your friends.” Bolly also collaborated with another crew not often expected in a SING! show: belly. “Over break, bolly and belly would have practices together because half of our group was in both crews,” Ahmed explained. “It was really fun having both crews there together, especially since we were all friends. I loved it.” She went on to detail the meticulous planning, scheduling and spreadsheet-ing that went into dividing the members and practice time between crews to perfect both sets by opening night. Bolly’s commitment certainly shone through in their performance, and has created great expectations for the future. “I’m just really glad the show went well and that they were able to incorporate us. I really hope that there’s a bolly for next year’s Senior SING!,” Ahmed said.
By ANDREW OH While the actors, chorus, and stage crews were hard at work down on the SING! stage in this year’s soph-frosh performance, the lights and sound crew made their contribution from the booth in the balcony overlooking the theater. Each change in lighting, every use of the microphone, and each turn of the spotlight was the product of the lights and sound crew’s skillful control over the auditory and visual landscape of the stage. It was the well-coordinated efforts of lights and sound that ensured that the actors could shine. “I mean, if SING! wasn’t well lit, and the actors couldn’t be heard, then the quality of the Chloe Huang / The Spectator show wouldn’t be that great,” sophomore and soph-frosh lights and sound director Dorothy Ha stated. “I think that’s why we are so important.” As a Soph-Frosh director, Ha spoke about some of her responsibilities within her leadership position. “I just introduced my crew to the sound equipment, such as the sound board and the light board, and I taught them how to use it and deal with problems regarding it,” Ha said. “They all picked it up really well and I’m really grateful for that.” On top of the crew’s aptitude for working the booth, Ha attributes a lot of this year’s SING!’s success to not just one crew, but the amicable effort of all of the SING! members at once. “I think it was generally the cooperation between people [that made the show special]. Everyone this year was really sweet and willing to put in the time to make the show great,” Ha elaborated. The crews’ appreciation for one another did not go unnoticed, either. “There were a lot of people that came to the booth and said ‘thank you,’ and it made me really happy,” Ha added, reaffirming the SING! family’s stellar cooperation. Despite the jubilation of seeing dedication coming to fruition in a performance like SING!, the production is notorious for its high commitment. It is up to the members to juggle long rehearsal hours on top of other responsibilities. While lights and sound’s commitment was lower than that of other SING! crews due to the limited time they had in the booth, Ha still had to put thought into how they could efficiently divide the workload among the team while providing a meaningful experience for each individual. “I tried to split the time between members in the booth evenly so that they wouldn’t be overwhelmed, but they [still] got experience [operating the booth],” Ha said. The impressive collaboration within SING! crews shined especially in this year’s return to in-person SING!. Ultimately, Ha feels like the dedication of lights and sound paid off in Soph-Frosh’s three performances. “I think we did really well and we deserved more points, but it’s the experience that really matters,” she reflected, fulfilled by a successful SING! season.
Stacey Chen / The Spectator
This year’s soph-frosh band was able to pull off remarkable performances, despite not having any inperson SING! experience. This lack of experience did not faze soph-frosh band director sophomore Kyle H. Chan, who explained that the unique circumstances actually eliminated some of the pressure typically associated with SING!. “I think one of the best parts of sophfrosh SING! is that there really isn’t that much pressure when it comes to winning. We’re all just here to learn and have fun,” Chan wrote in an e-mail interview. Another divergence from SING! in previous years was the change in the music requirements for each band. As opposed to playing every piece of music live, the band was only required to perform five pieces throughout the show. This change was especially helpful given this year’s time constraints and the relatively small size of the soph-frosh band. “One example is our opening number, Belle, which turned out to be really hard for the band to play. We were able to use an mp3 for that song instead, and that really saved us,” Chan wrote. Even with the changed music requirements, however, the time constraints posed a nearly insurmountable challenge. “If we[‘d] had a week or so of more time, our band would’ve been exponentially better; we just needed some extra time to clean up some of the songs together, especially on integration with the cast,” Chan explained. In spite of Soph-Frosh SING!’s lack of in-person SING! experience, as well as the standard challenges associated with student-run productions, the band’s impressive performances were a testament to their hard work throughout the SING! season.well and that they were able to incorporate us. I really hope that there’s a bolly for next year’s Senior SING!,” Ahmed said. Natalie Soler / The Spectator
Natalie Soler / The Spectator
By JUNI PARK Many members of the audience were awestruck by the striking performance of this year’s soph-frosh flow crew. With the pitch black setting, flow’s glow-in-the-dark props stood out more than ever, twirls of multicolored lights flying across the stage. However, this performance was not executed without struggles. Flow director sophomore Freda Dong faced many obstacles while managing her team. The flow performers had little time to learn and practice their choreography in the days leading up to the show. “It wasn’t a typical show season,” she said. “We only had three weeks for everyone to prepare for their Lauren Chin / The Spectator choreo, which isn’t a lot of time.” During these three weeks, Soph-Frosh performers spent many hours, many right after the end of their school day, vigorously drilling choreography and practicing the same dances hundreds and hundreds of times. To add to the weight of balancing flow practice and schoolwork, many flow performers were struggling with burnout from StuySquad. “The month before, StuySquad immediately ended, and then SING! began, so a lot of the members who just came back from StuySquad were pretty tired of dancing and doing shows back-to-back,” Dong explained. Despite this, the performers found the flow experience worthwhile. “One of my favorite memories ever was probably drilling tosses in the dark before the show began,” Dong recalled. “I realized after we saw the stage: it’s too dark to see the stage when doing tosses. So I made everyone go into the band room in the dark to practice there, and one of my members found a really dark room next to it, and I thought, ‘This is perfect for drilling tosses!’” Little moments like these helped bring the team closer as not just as members of the same club, but as a group of friends having fun together. “While we were drilling tosses, we were doing karaoke night. A lot of my members were singing the songs [that] other SING! members were performing, like classic Disney songs, and we were singing during drilling practice,” Dong elaborated. While struggles and hurdles came along the way, getting through with a team turned the pain and exhaustion into a more enjoyable experience. Dong has high hopes for next year’s Flow team. “I think you guys are pretty solid,” she said to this year’s performers. “I’m sure you guys will do great next year and we look forward to helping you out as juniors next year.”
