Families, friends and alumni visit campus annually to watch the excitement of Spring Sing and often reminisce on past shows and the characteristics that each show brought to the stage. For Spring Sing director Steven Frye, picking the top five shows he has witnessed was as simple as pulling up a document on his computer. Frye has kept a list of excellent shows he has seen since he began directing in 1995. Frye explained that the top shows are in no order and that all of his picks excelled in different areas. Here are the top five Spring Sing shows from the past two decades:
Show: The Show Heard ‘Round the World
Club: Knights Social Club
Year: 2014
“They did an excellent job of using men to their advantage. I thought they had a great selection in music. They had a great mix of theme ideas and comedy. It was a brilliant blend of things. It doesn’t hurt that a theatre major directed that show.”
Show: Geriatrics
Club: TNT and Zeta Rho
Year: 2009
“That one was just silly and funny from start to finish. We had the grumpy old men commenting on old people and old people doing all of the cliches around being older. Everything was a great, funny joke right down to, ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Well, it Depends.’ It was very comical and they had a great mix of men and women on the stage. The story telling was very strong.”
Show: Girl Scouts
Club: Ko Jo Kai and Ju Go Ju
Year: 2004
“It wasn’t so much storytelling as it was showing every cliche of girl scouts. From cooking to camping to cookies they all came there. Even during rehearsals, they gave ‘badge awards’ to wear on their costumes to show what they had accomplished. They had strong singing as a group and some of the best choreography that has ever been on the stage. They were together as a group and they actually were the ones who first developed the fast breaks that became a tradition for everybody now, and they just nailed it.”
Show: Vikings
Club: Chi Sigma Alpha and Regina
Year: 1995
“Vikings was some of the best music arranging ever. They had eight-part harmony at points. They just blasted the stage with singing. It was hilarious, it was fun and I have never seen someone use Queen music like they did. Seven minutes went by and people thought ‘Is that it? It’s over? I could watch that forever.'”
Show: Genies
Club: TNT and Zeta Rho
Year: 1994
“This was before my time, but they had a tremendous use of men in the show. It was very acrobatic and power-driven. It was one of the first times that men stepped up and really owned the stage. It was very well done, it was funny and that is really the key to good parody: it should make you laugh.”
