Last year, fraternity/sorority team Zeta Beta Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta did not make it into the Spring Sing lineup. The partnership proposed a musical that poked fun at the Occupy Wall Street movement which, much to the disappointment of the show’s co-creator Ben Kurzrock, was deemed a bit too controversial.
Kurzrock, a second-year global studies student, said that when it came time for Zeta Beta Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta to sit down and hash out a plan for this year’s submission, they decided to keep the content light and noncontroversial. They wanted a subject so fundamentally “Bruin” that the UCLA community would embrace it without hesitation. Naturally, they chose John Wooden.
“We thought, ‘How can we do the exact opposite of last year? How about John Wooden?’,” said Kurzrock. “I looked it up to make sure it hadn’t been done before, it seemed a bit obvious to me, but it hadn’t.”
Only five minutes long, the musical provides a fun, but broad overview of the life and career of UCLA’s famous coach and alumnus. Over a 12-year period, coach Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national championships, maintaining an 88-game win streak and was named national coach of the year six times.
“We wanted to focus on the grand arc of his life and career. We wanted to show how his ideas live on now in the way we live as a community,” said Josh Thomas, a third-year political science student who plays Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the musical. “His greatness, his work ethic, his philosophy, that’s what made him John Wooden.”
The musical features parodies of classic pop songs, all tweaked lyrically to memorialize coach Wooden. “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees is parodied in Kurzrock’s and co-writer Gabby Puyat’s lyrics of “I’m an Achiever,” an homage to Wooden’s work ethic.
Puyat, a second-year physical science student, plays a UCLA student. Her character, initially unaware of coach Wooden’s achievements, comes to appreciate his legacy, which leads her to sing the musical’s final number, “We Love J. Dub,” set to the tune of “Where is the Love?” by The Black Eyed Peas.
Puyat said the process of creating the musical her to have more in common with her character than she initially thought.
“Before, John Wooden was just this big name, but having to write the script, I really had to do my research, and I learned so much more about him. I can really relate to my character’s new found appreciation for him,” Puyat said.
Abdul-Jabbar won’t be the only former UCLA player to be represented in the musical – famed basketball center and current UCLA commentator Bill Walton will also make an appearance in the show. Kurzrock said the creators’ goal was to bring in iconic alumni figures in order to make the ideal musical for Bruins, by Bruins and about Bruins.
“We really wanted to load it up with Bruin greatness and fun cameos,” Kurzrock said. “Just really bring it home.”