Company hosts 52nd Spring Sing

  MIKE CHIEN Members of the Spring Sing Company (l to r)
Aaron Metchik, Matt Spooner,
Kristen Isaacs, Russell Ward and
Alex Hoff rehearse for their performances between
acts during Spring Sing.

By Emily Pauker
Daily Bruin Contributor

Crowds may go to Spring Sing to see the musical acts, but the
between act fillers, courtesy of the Spring Sing Company, attract
just as much attention.

Hosting the 52nd annual Spring Sing tonight, the company, made
up of 14 singers, actors and dancers, is a group of students
representing different interests and experiences, with studies
ranging from theater and anthropology to English and molecular
genetics.

“We don’t just take people with theatrical
experience,” said fourth-year anthropology student and
company director, Kelly Casselman. “The company has a certain
craziness ““ they must have stage presence, good comedic
timing and a big personality.”

The company’s job is to entertain the audience between
acts with 30- to 90-second comedy sketches and musical numbers, and
to introduce the performers. Most of the sketches parody life at
UCLA and popular culture.

Together with assistant company director Marcello Robinson,
Casselman arranges blocking, helps with music, directs rehearsal
and basically attempts to keep all aspects of the company running
smoothly. For the past two years Casselman has participated in
Spring Sing as talent and has seen first-hand what goes into Spring
Sing from different perspectives.

“Performing is so different than being behind the
scenes,” Casselman said. “I love seeing the company,
crew and performers all come together. Spring Sing showcases up and
coming stars, but at the same time it showcases talented students
who probably wouldn’t have a chance to otherwise show that
talent.”

In February, potential company members went through a two-day
audition process. In the audition they had to prepare a monologue
and song, then learn a dance and play improvisation games. A panel
of judges chose the company based on the auditions.

Rehearsals for company members began twice a week. However, for
the past several weeks they have been meeting up to four times a
week for two- to five-hour sessions. This past week rehearsals have
been every day.

Four UCLA alumni and two students make up the creative writing
team for the company. Among the alumni are an independent film
writer, a parody musician who travels around college campuses, an
insider in the computer industry and a Fox production assistant.
Company members Daniel Rothblum and Anne Walls are the student
members of the team.

“I love being a writer because you’re just
creating,” said Walls, a fourth-year English student.
“The company is so crazy that you can do anything. It’s
cool to be able to write for such a broad audience, from kids to
adults, who all share UCLA in common. On a basic level everyone in
the company is super funny. We knew we could write the characters
as zany as we wanted for them.”

Some of the sketches were written before the show. However,
during rehearsals the company members ad-libbed and changed the
sketches to make them funnier. In creating the sketches, the
creative writing team predicted the type of talent in company as
well as the audience size, expecting around 4,000 attendees this
year.

“The majority of the audience is super far away from the
stage,” Walls said. “Everything has to be super huge
because the audience can’t see your facial expressions. We
have to make sure everything is extra big.”

Second-year undeclared student David Knebel has been a company
choreographer since last year. For tonight’s event, Knebel
choreographed three musical numbers.

“The company is so spontaneous, happy and alive,”
Knebel said. “It makes you want to do choreography that shows
that off.”

The company hosted Spring Sing from its inception in 1949 up
until the event’s hiatus in 1969. Then, after an absence of
nine years, alumni and students brought it back in 1978 with an MC.
In the early ’90s, the MC was replaced with the company again
and, except for two shows in 1995 and 1996, it has produced the
event since.

“Company is awesome,” Knebel said. “I think
the friendships are unmatched because we are all so talented and so
appreciative of each other’s work that it is such a positive
experience for us.”

PERFORMANCE: This year’s company also
includes Stephanie Caswell, Jodie Cohen, Alex Hoff, Kristen Isaacs,
Aaron Metchik, Matt Motal, Nasim Pedrad, Matt Spooner, Leah
Sprecher, Emily Stapleton and Russell Ward.