It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and, no, I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about TIGER TUNES! Club directors have been working all summer, picking songs, writing lyrics and choreographing dance routines, all building up to the final unveiling come Homecoming week. On stage the clubs make the routines look easy, but what really goes into making a Tunes show? We caught up with some club directors to find out.
Before anything can start, directors must first begin the long process of choosing a theme. It might be a gut reaction, an accident, an idea sparked from something said in passing or a long time idea finally coming into the spotlight.
“At first we had close to 20 random ideas,” Chi Mu director, Olivia Whitcher said.
“Honestly, many of them were good, but none of them stood out to me. The idea of Clocks came up when Joy, myself, and a couple members of the lyric committee were goofing around.”
“Since the beginning we were pretty interested in being inanimate objects,” EEE director, Julie Feimster said. “I asked my mom about it, and she suggested Toy Soldiers because my sister was a Toy Soldier for a stomp performance in college. Toy Soldiers pretty much stayed our top preference after that. Thanks Mom.”
Once themes are picked its back to work, and some say that the next part is the hardest. Lyrics and choreography, keeping up with deadlines, staying organized and collaborating can be long and stressful, but also lots of fun.
“I have a great team and we work really well together, so the hardest thing is just making sure I’m organized for this along with everything else going on,” Tri Chi director, Haley Brown, said.
“I think the hardest part really is just getting used to the way Tunes is done. We are a new club and Olivia and I are both sophomores, so we haven’t had any experience doing Tunes with a club before but it has been fun.” Chi Mu Director, Joy Biebighauser, said.
Some find that organizing is difficult, but on the flip side some find that the lyrics or the choreography is the hardest part.
“The most fun and most challenging part has been writing the lyrics. It’s hard to find lyrics that are just right, but when we do, it’s hilarious.” Student Life director, Bethany Lenards, said.
“Hardest part for us is coming up with the dance moves and lyrics, but at the same time that’s the most fun part,” BETA director, Caleb Terry said. “When we were struggling with a certain part and one of us had an idea that was really good we would go crazy because of how awesome or funny we thought it would be with 40 guys on stage.”
Even though it might be hard work trying to create the perfect show, the clubs do have fun in the process and look forward to many different parts of practice and performance.
“It’s probably lame to say, but I love show week the most. Practice is over, so all the stress is gone and you just go out and have fun being goobers on stage.” ETA director, Will Hanna, said. “Then you yell and jump a lot, dance at the Kappa Kookout, watch the football game and drink way too much root beer at Muggin. Homecoming week just rules.”
“I’m most looking forward to the first practice! No one has seen our lyrics or choreography, so I am ready to share all of that with the club,” EEE director, Alyson Cole, said. “Tunes practices are such a fun, club-bonding time, so I can’t wait for our new pledge class to experience them!”
Themes are a pretty important part of the experience as a whole. Without a theme there would be no songs. Without songs there would be no choreography, but when it’s all said and done the members and the memories are what make it such an unforgettable experience.
“I can’t wait to perform on the JPAC stage and show the school and alumni how talented my sisters are.” Chi Mu member Mattie Alexander said. “I also can’t wait to see the other shows and our host and hostesses as they bring the house down! This is going to be a great year tunes!”
Beta: Astronauts
Campus Ministries: Stars
Chi Delta: Make It Rain
Chi Mu: Clocks
EEE: Toy Soldiers
Eta Alpha: Olympics
Kappa Chi: Express
Student Life: Super Store
Tri Chi: Tumbleweeds
By Riley Madlock, Student Writer
