Kappa Alpha Theta won Sing Song last Friday against other great Greek performances in this year’s 17th annual Sing Song. The show featured six Greek groups performing eight-minute long, mini-Broadway shows centered around the theme “City Lights,” chosen by Program Council.
Faculty, parents and students filled McFarlin Auditorium to what audience members hail as one of the best so far. “This year, the show went more smoothly and there were no long pauses between each act,” student audience member Ilana Edell said.
The night opened up with John Holiday getting the crowd to sing along with him as he performed Alicia Keyes’ “If I Ain’t Got You.”
Before each performance, footage of interviews with the directors of each group and clips of their rehearsals were shown. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Order performed first with their theme “California!” incorporating many dance styles such as square dancing and surfing moves. The second act was Gamma Phi Beta’s performance titled “Vegas, Baby!” which told the story of a group of friends who make plans to go to Las Vegas for Spring Break, visiting the casinos and nightclubs. Kappa Alpha Theta performed a tribute to the lifestyle in New York City, including Broadway and of course, the downtown shopping. Entering the stage with the loudest audience support, Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma performed their show titled “A Soldier Under Every City Light,” where an American soldier writes to his family and friends about the great cities his fellow soldiers talk about. Pi Beta Phi and Lambda Chi Alpha also chose to include more than one city by traveling through other cities such as New York and Las Vegas, ending with a solidarity note with the Dawson Creek theme song “I’ll be there for you.” Delta Gamma and Sigma Phi Epsilon ended the night with their performance set of “Chicago 1922,” filled with swing dancing and even saxophone and trumpet players.
Virginia Snider and the Fine Arts Community (FAC) performed harmonic melodies while the judges made their decisions. Organizers hoped that this would get the rest of the non-Greek community more involved.
“We are hoping that by performing they provoke other groups to say ‘Hey how come we didn’t do it?’” Special Events Chair of the Program Council Lulu Seikaly said.
The three judges concentrated on singing, theater production, dance, and overall performance. Kappa Alpha Theta won the overall competition, with Gamma Phi Beta coming in second and Delta Gamma and Sigma Phi Epsilon coming in third. The prize for first place was $300, $200 for second, and $100 for third. But Sing Song is more than just about the money, Seikaly says, but more for “ego and themselves.”
Kappa Alpha Theta managed to win even without the usual accompaniment of the men of Pi Kappa Alpha.
“Instead of seeing this loss as a setback, I saw it as an opportunity to work even harder and decided to step up for the challenge,” Theta director Julie Cook said. Cook was the winner of the Best Outstanding Director Award, “Having all girls on stage really worked in our favor because we were able to
specialize our dance moves and utilize our costumes to carry out a girly, refined style.”
Many hours of hard work and dedication went into all the performances, holding long practices three to five days a week. “I think people have no idea how monumental this event is to the Greek system especially, and they underestimate all of the time and effort that the directors put into these shows,” Cook said. Outside of practicing dances, directors had to order and arrange costumes, paint the backdrop, look for the right set pieces, get sheet music, cut music and choreograph the dances. “For the past couple of months, my life has revolved around all things Sing Song!” Cook said.
Overall:
1st place:
Kappa Alpha Theta
2nd place:
Gamma Phi Beta
3rd place:
Delta Gamma
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Best Choreography:
Kappa Alpha Theta
Best Backdrop:
Gamma Phi Beta
Best Theme:
Delta Gamma
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Best Outstanding Director:
Julie Cook (Kappa Alpha Theta)
