For the four years before I had come here to CCNY, I was involved in my high school’s SING production. SING is a completely student run play in which the school is divided into two teams and these teams must come up with a whole play that means the script, lyrics (as songs in modern culture are used and made into parodies), written music (notes for instruments), and sets are all made by students. We were the musicians, the stage crewmen, the directors, the producers, the directors, the liaisons. I myself had always played in the band, with my trumpet I followed my conductors from freshmen to senior year. On Friday night on November 14th I had gone back to my old school to watch their performance and although no longer being part of the overall cast I could not help but get nostalgic. It was a great 3 hours of singing, dancing, and memories. On Saturday night the winner was announced and although I was not able to go to that performance I was able to catch some of my old band members after the show and join them for a dinner. Are these plays nearly as well made as the great works of Pirandello or Shakespeare? Of course not, but they having something more to them. There was never just one writer, but a team working together. It was great to be involved and it was great to be able to go back and see that everything is still going on as it always had.
How many of you were involved in a similar type of performance at your schools or even had the same program at your school?
Hey Kevin! SING sounds like an incredible program; not only is a chance for creative expression but it sounds really fun as well. The plays at my high school were always adaptations of existing works, led by our theater professor, and I never really participated in them, instead playing in the jazz band; it would be great to hear about some of the plays that you guys came up with !
SING doesnt “sound” like an incredible program; it IS an incredible program.
Townsend is also doing SING this coming Friday and Saturday, and I feel like SING really helps the students to understand the social aspect of art, which involves heavy interaction and constant exchange of ideas/inspirations.
Shahrouk, well every year there were two different plays so in total I have been involved with 4. They all followed the same plot-line (weren’t really that creative) of a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing, in which two people that are from opposing worlds/faction fall in love and do whatever it takes to be together but ours always ended less tragically than the Shakespearean work. My first ever performance had been Fire and Ice which had the factions fire and ice that hated and despised each other but eventually King Kelvin and a queen of the Ice nation fall in love and unite the two together, the grand finale are the people of the fire and ice dancing in jubilee, (haha not much of a “serious” production). This years shows were about a colony on the international space station and ancient Egypt, both diverged from the whole main plot being focused on a love interest and overall both had been put on very well. The Egyptian plotline followed a plot of sibling rivalry, after the death of the previous pharaoh 3 children vie for power and they almost split up the kingdom because of their thirst for power, the youngest eventually sees what it is doing to the country and reunites the entire land by gaining the support of everyone. The International Space Station play was about a commander whom was very conceited and liked to have all the power and so usually bossed everyone around and treated many unfairly. Soon a scientist aboard the spacecraft states that the space station will be destroyed in 24 hours, although supposed to keep top secret, everyone aboard finds out and mass hysteria start until the commander’s daughters tells everyone it is the time for them to follow their dreams and fulfill them before their demise. Her dream had been to be the commander and so her father with 12 hours left on the clock resigned and gave her control, fulfilling her dream. Then the scientist right at the end says how the space station will actually not be destroyed but everyone aboard has learned the concept of YOLO.
Lucius, I agree, SING was a very great way to allow younger people getting involved in the artistic process.