Spring Sing performances began Thursday and will conclude Saturday, altering several traditions to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the primary deviations from a typical Spring Sing show is that this year\u2019s shows did not occur Easter weekend for the first time since 1999. While Spring Sing has been performed on Easter weekend for decades, the production was scheduled for two weeks afterward this year due to COVID-19: Many groups needed more time and opportunities to rehearse so the cast could be safely split into groups for social distancing during rehearsals. Next year, however, Spring Sing will return to being performed Easter weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Easter is a part of many Harding students\u2019 and employees\u2019 Easter weekend, some took advantage of the less busy holiday weekend this year. For some participants, this date change created a change in holiday traditions. According to an April 12 survey conducted on the Harding Student Publication\u2019s Instagram account, 66% of respondents said they typically attend Spring Sing, and 53% said they plan to attend this year. Of the latter, 85% said they would attend in person. Sixty-four percent of respondents said Spring Sing was not typically a part of their family\u2019s Easter traditions, and 66% said they did not go home for Easter weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among other alterations to typical Spring Sing rules and traditions was clubs\u2019 abilities to sing during live performances. Cindee Stockstill, recruiter and retention specialist for the theater department, said masks and social distancing had to be implemented not only in all performances, but also in all rehearsals and meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo limit the number of performers on stage, we have pre-recorded the Jazz Band features as well as the production numbers with the hosts, hostesses and ensemble,\u201d Stockstill said. \u201cThe clubs were limited in the number of people who could sing on the track, and they had to sing in masks. While the audience will be limited in numbers, the enthusiasm and the joy of the performers will still come through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, rather than having external judges, some members of Harding faculty and staff will judge the shows this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Ava Montgomery, two-time Spring Sing hostess (not including her selection in 2020), said one of the more significant changes to this year\u2019s production is that they did not perform the children\u2019s matinee before officially opening the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[The children\u2019s matinee] is like our glorified dress rehearsal, and the kids are the most fun audience,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cYou can go out and mess up everything that you\u2019ve practiced, and they will just laugh and cheer and love every second of it. They\u2019re very forgiving, and that is always so much fun, so we\u2019re not doing that this year because of COVID, so that\u2019s been a bummer, but we totally understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montgomery said that since children will not be able to attend a children\u2019s matinee, she hopes they will attend one of the shows with their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Steven Frye, chair of the theatre department and director of Spring Sing, is eager to reclaim what was lost last year due to the cancellation of \u201cOnce Upon a Time.\u201d Frye said he made the initial proposal in November 2020 to limit Spring Sing show attendees to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
students and employees. University President David Burks made the appeal in February 2021 to host a larger audience, which was later approved. Despite the restrictions, many accommodations are being made to make the production possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna do this thing, and I\u2019m excited,\u201d Frye said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Hallie Martin, women\u2019s social club Pi Theta Phi Spring Sing director, said she is glad the shows were moved back two weeks because it allows more of her cast and crew to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to ensure a safer production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also been a blessing since the new club members started practicing with our show at the beginning of February due to Club Week being pushed back to late January,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the changes, Montgomery also said she is grateful for the opportunity to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
perform this year and for all the memories she has made because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpring Sing \u2014 whenever you\u2019re involved in it so heavily \u2014 it always feels really important,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cIt\u2019s so wonderful to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself, but this year in particular carries so much more weight of importance because we weren\u2019t able to do it last year, and I\u2019m just awestruck in rehearsal all the time … and I just think about it all the time and just how lucky we are that we are able to do it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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