8SPRING/SUMMER SOCIAL CLUBS Spring Sing dazzles audiences after two years of preparation. SPRING SING 2020 WAS SET to debut on April 9, 2020, with the theme “Once Upon a Time.” Due to COVID-19, the show’s production was halted and ultimately canceled for the year, leaving participants involved feeling lost and disappointed. Hope was restored when the University announced in March 2020 that the show would continue in April 2021 with the revamped theme of “Twice Upon a Time.” With this newly titled theme came the COVID-19 guidelines the show had to comply with in order to safely host the event. Mandatory face masks, limits on the number of people on stage and in the audience, and social distancing in the entire building were just some of the necessary changes. Sophomore ensemble member Jackson Samuel said that it was tedious to follow the guidelines during rehearsals, but the spirit of the show remained unbothered. “During rehearsals, having to follow the guidelines and wear the masks did wear on people,” Samuel said. “Maybe it brought down the spirit a little bit, but when it came closer to performance time, people’s spirits were lifted again, and they remembered why we were doing Spring Sing.” Junior Braydon Letsinger was cast to play in the Spring Sing jazz band for both the 2020 and 2021 shows. In order to best comply with the pandemic’s guidelines, the jazz band opted to pre-record videos of their performances that would be displayed during the show instead of performing live to the audience. These additional efforts granted the health and safety that University leadership sought, but at the expense of a more satisfying performance. “You lose a lot with recordings,” Letsinger said. ”You lose a lot of the energy, the atmosphere and the people. We sounded fine, but it was all a little nuanced. It was as close as we could get to playing in person. I think they did a nice job with recording, but you’re always going to miss something between a live performance and a recording.” Despite the circumstances of Spring Sing 2021, the anticipation for the show remained, especially for the social club directors who had almost two years to prepare. For the Gamma Sigma Phi (GSP), Pi Theta Phi, Theta and friends show, 2021 was especially exciting since it was the first year Theta officially participated in Spring Sing. Their excitement came to its climax when they were announced the winners of the John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award on April 17, 2021, winning $2,000 for their charity of choice, Sparrow’s Promise. Their show “Can’t Stop the Feelings!” told the story of a college female who underwent the emotions of anger, fear, sadness, anger, jealousy and joy. Senior Sargent Erwin, GSP music director for the 2020 and 2021 shows, said because their show depended on separate groups that represented each emotion, it was easier for them to comply with the COVID-19 rule that limited 30-40 performers on stage at a time. “I actually think [the organization] was part of the reason we were able to win,” Erwin said. “We had the different emotion groups that had 10-15 [members] each, so we didn’t have to worry too much about the logistics of how we would be cycling people on and off stage.” Neither Erwin nor his fellow directors were expecting to win as they were unsure how the judges would react to their “fairly unconventional” choreography. Erwin noted that the true satisfaction came when others on campus told him how much they enjoyed their show. After undergoing the loss of one show and having to plan and wait to perform for an additional year with the pressures of COVID-19, the support and validation from others made all the hard work worth it. “I said this on Saturday night before we went on and were giving our final speeches that I don’t care what the judges say or who holds the trophy at the end of the night,” Erwin said. “Listen to the people around campus. Listen to what they’re saying. We’ve already won. Having all these people say our show was incredible and they loved it was more validation to me than holding the trophy at the end of the night.” WRITTEN BY KATIE COOPER “WHEN SPRING SING WAS CANCELLED FRESHMAN year, I was devastated. I knew for sure I would do Spring Sing the next year, but I had no idea that I would become the lead of the winning show,” junior Mary Frances Burch said. “I am very thankful that everything fell into place the way it did, and I will forever be grateful for Spring Sing and my precious emotions.”
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