Few would consider taking part in Spring Sing a weight-loss program, but for students involved with Company, their devotion has led to just that.
“We have meetings until one or two in the morning sometimes with very little food breaks so some of us are losing some major poundage,” third-year economics student Dylan Matteson said.
Company, originally created so the audience wouldn’t have to watch the stage crew move objects in between talent acts, will appear either on stage or on screen 17 times on Friday. To prepare for this definitive display of its talent and hard work, this close-knit group became serious about the event during the first half of winter quarter.
“This quarter, we met almost every day,” said Jeremy Alm, a fourth-year business economics student and a director of Company.
Third-year film and television student and a veteran from last year’s Company, Mark Iverson, has placed Company at the top of his list of priorities.
“My life is Company,” Iverson said. “I don’t sleep. I don’t really eat very much. I stopped going to class a while ago; I made sure I’d have an easier quarter.”
Finding themselves less inspired than usual by events in the media, this year’s Company members had to rely much more heavily on original stories. In past Spring Sings, Company’s videos and scripts drew mainly from material in the media. This year, however, with comparatively few TV shows and movies that everyone would recognize, Company turned to the creativity of its players.
Members however did not find this to be too big of a challenge. Company is made up of students from all grades, and each brings a fresh perspective to the group as a whole. With such a diversity in age, the team hopes to convey both the perspective of what it’s like to be a freshman in 2008 as well as a senior.
“They’re new, they’re fun, they’re fresh, but they’re determined too,” said Alm, half of Company’s directing pair, regarding the two freshman additions.
Physiological sciences student Sasan Ahoraian and music student Katy Tang joined Company without ever attending a Spring Sing. These freshmen impressed the committee and prove to be an integral part of Company.
While everyone contributes to writing the scripts and building the props, only certain members obtain the skills for other areas of the show. Madison Vanderberg, a second-year communication studies and sociology student, leads the team in choreography whereas Iverson produced Company’s four videos with very little outside help. The additional workload was not unwelcome; rather, Iverson looked at it as experience.
“I want to be a writer, director, actor, producer; I want to do it all, and here I’m kind of doing it all,” Iverson said. “I’m writing, editing, directing, shooting and producing in a way. Spring Sing is preparing me very well.”
Completing his second year making videos for Spring Sing but his first year doing so alone, Iverson is well aware of the benefits of this immense commitment.
“Being in film school is fantastic but being in Spring Sing and doing the videos has been the best thing I’ve done for my career,” Iverson said. “The things I’ve learned, the people I’ve met and the skills I’ve polished by doing the videos have been the most important thing for my career in filmmaking.”
With encouragement from two returning players, Iverson and third-year theater student Kean Almryde, Company members realize that the responsibility of creating and combining all of the aspects of their show ultimately comes down to them.
“No one’s going to hand (anything we need) to us,” Matteson said. “We need to do things for ourselves.”
Reaching into their own pockets to cover prop and costume costs that the Student Alumni Association’s budget did not cover, Company members prove their devotion to entertaining family, students and alumni by even building themselves props to heighten the audience’s experience.
“I won’t tell you what it’s for, but we’re building a pyramid,” Iverson said.
Third-year communication studies student Yong Kim, the other half of the directing team, saw the group of performers grow closer over the long process of prop building and rehearsing.
“It’s definitely a long journey, and everyone on Company has been together so much they’re pretty much like best friends,” Kim said.
Alm and Kim’s directorial duties began with screening auditions. The comprehensive audition presented applicants with numerous tasks, such as rewriting the words to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and singing a song for the selecting committee. Matteson approached the latter task with a different line of attack.
“I did a comedic song in the style of Robert Goulet,” Matteson said. “I rewrote the lyrics to “˜My Favorite Things.'”
Matteson did not choose Goulet’s vocal styling in memory of the late artist; he intended to emulate fellow comedian Will Ferrell, who imitated Goulet during his time on “Saturday Night Live.”
While stand-up comedy may not be in this economics student’s future, he does intend to always include humor in his life.
“Laughter’s such an amazing tool to live a better life,” Matteson said. “I definitely see comedy as part of my future whether or not it’s part of my career path.”
Matteson and the rest of Company suggested over 50 ideas for skits, songs and videos, though they’ll only feature a select few on stage. One idea that didn’t make the cut was a rewrite of Fergie’s “Glamorous” titled “Flabulous,” which they feared wouldn’t be perceived as they hoped. What the audience can expect to see is Company performing not the robot, but the robot with props.
Gearing all skits toward students, Company’s material ranges from Daft Punk ““ in a way that would even grab Kanye’s attention ““ to blue books with only the audience’s laughter as a judge of how effective its comedy is at the end of the night.
Pouring so much into the lengthy process of preparing for one night, Company looks to the aftermath of its performance to make it all worth it.
“When people come up to you after the show and you can see it in their eyes that they really, really liked it … you nailed it,” Iverson said.