The MU Singers performing together in the Chapel of De La Salle and
His Brothers at the Festival of Lessons & Carols.
@SINGERSSMU / INSTAGRAM
Laili Shahrestani, Features Editor
Manhattan University’s Singers, Players and Scatterbomb have high hopes for the spring semester, and have planned a variety of new ideas to integrate into their programs. These three groups are key contributors to the performing arts scene on campus, showcasing the acting and musical skills of Jaspers.
Singers is known to be a choral group composed of a variety of students who have a passion for performing in either soprano, alto, tenor or bass voice types. This semester, vocalists within the group have spoken out about the new themes that will be presented within their musical performances, and how these additions will reflect the wide range of new skills that they have been working on.
Landen Scofield, a senior and the vice president of Singers, mentioned how the choral group is planning to take the stage on April 27 for their spring concert. The performance will consist of a higher difficulty and variety compared to previous years.
“This semester we are going to keep trying to up the challenge and exceed expectations,” Scofield said. We want to have a concert full of an eclectic bunch of songs that all fit together thematically, but are very rigorous and show more of our range than what we’ve shown in the past two years entirely.”
Members of Singers also mentioned that the group will be incorporating songs that will be performed in different languages this semester. While a majority of the vocalists are not currently fluent in these other languages, they are working toward familiarizing themselves with them through lots of practice.
Layla Luciano, a junior and a member of Singers spoke to The Quadrangle about how singing in different languages can highlight the range and talent of the group, but also take a lot of repetition and practice to carry out efficiently.
“We are beginning to sing in a lot of French, Latin and Spanish but recently we have spent most of our rehearsals practicing the pronunciation,” Luciano said. “With the different languages, we have to make sure we pronounce everything correctly, or else it won’t sound right.”
Luciano went on to express how this new addition to the choir was influenced by their director, Andrew Bauer, who influenced the vocalists to expand their musical ability by singing in various languages, due to the fact that it can elevate the harmonies of the group.
“Andy [Bauer] likes to select new music that sounds really nice when sung in the chapel, especially with a big group together,” Luciano said. “He always looks for harmonies, he’s a big fan of doing that.”
In addition to Singers, Players also has big ideas for this semester. The acting group is planning on having a number of events within the coming weeks and months ranging from karaoke nights to short productions and finally to their spring musical, which will be a rendition of The Addams Family.
Players is hoping to kick-off the year with a production known as V-Day, which will be a theatrical rally that is centered around violence and assault prevention towards women. This performance will strive to serve as a global activist movement that will commemorate women who have had experiences with these matters.
Following this production, the group is hoping to incorporate more student-run events this semester, where members of Players will be able to write the script for a play by themselves.
Olivia Bailey, a junior and the producer of Players, spoke about how a student-run play will be an exciting addition to the group, considering the fact that it has never been done before, in terms of a full production.
“We have a super exciting play coming up, which is our student-slot,” Bailey said. “The last time we had anything student-run it was for a one act, which is only a 10-minute performance, but this is for a full play so it’s going to be really exciting.”
Scatterbomb, MU’s improv troupe, has also brainstormed new ideas to incorporate for the rest of the school year. Scatterbomb is known for their ability to come up with comedic or humorous improv performances on the spot in front of an audience, and oftentimes encourages audience engagement as well.
In regard to spring semester plans, Scatterbomb is hoping to upkeep their quick and spontaneous acting scene by incorporating games into their shows.
Kristina Bopp, a freshman and a member of Scatterbomb, expressed how thinking as a group is a vital part of coming up with new ideas for the group to succeed, and how integrating games into their performances has helped keep them lively.
“We always work together as a group,” Bopp said. “We all band together and throw out some ideas on the board. Like, we experimented a little with throwing in some of the games that we practice into the show, and it worked out really well.”
While this is Bopp’s first year on Scatterbomb, she mentioned that the environment of the group is very uplifting, and that members involved are highly supportive of one another, which overall pushes everyone to perform better.
“I really do love the group that we have,” Bopp said. “Everybody is so friendly to each other, and it doesn’t feel like I’m going to a school club. It feels like I’m just hanging out with my friends. There’s no negative space in the group, just an open space for all our ideas to share.”