By Camryn Manning, Staff Writer
October 14, 2022
The week of Tiger Tunes is finally over. After four nights of performances, Caroline Derby and Izzy Baughn announced the results. The Women of Gamma Phi won People’s Choice and the OSF Award. Placing fifth were the Women of Tri Chi, placing fourth were the Men of Eta Alpha Omega, placing third were the Men of Beta Beta, placing second were the Women of EEE, and winning Tiger Tunes 2022 were the Men and Women of Campus Ministries.
The Women of Gamma Phi received People’s Choice and the OSF Award this year. People’s Choice is given to the club that raises the most funds for student scholarships throughout the week of Tiger Tunes. Regarding the OSF Award, director Taylor Moran said, “The OSF Award is given to the group that stood out most to OSF during the whole Tiger Tunes season and fully embodies what Tiger Tunes is about. This was Gamma’s second year to be in Tunes after being re-founded, and to say I was proud that we won these awards would be an understatement! These girls worked so incredibly hard to put on the best show, and we are so honored to be this year’s OSF Award Recipients!”
The Women of Tri Chi had an unexpected theme: “Rocks.” Eryn Riley, a senior vocal music education major who co-directed the Tri Chi show said, “We thought it would be funny all along to pretend we were rock stars leading up to Tunes and then on stage be literal rocks. There were lots of different things that rocks could do and then we just included everything about rocks that we could!” The directors appreciated being recognized for their hard work this season, but especially are grateful for Tri Chi’s strengthened sisterhood through Tunes this year. Julia Letcher, a senior musical theatre major and co-director of Tri Chi’s show, said, “With such a fun theme, we were able to explore all the diversity of personalities in our club and we got to see the goofy, charismatic side of Tri Chi!”
The Men of Eta Alpha Omega took fourth place as “Mall Cops.” Director Noah Sanders recalled, “I was sitting in my living room discussing Tunes with my parents over winter break last year. My mom and I were throwing out random themes and “Mall Cops” came to my mind. I pretty much gasped. After texting the guys the idea, they fell in love with it!” A charming, comical show, it had its hurdles along the way as well. Director Braden Crawley commented, “One thing we learned is how to dance in time. Let me tell you, when we first started, getting a bunch of non-musical guys to learn a dance was a challenge, but all of them bought in and learned how to dance in time together, which we shared many laughs about along the way.” The show especially strengthened the brotherhood and friendships between the Men of Eta Alpha Omega. “Being together for 12 hours a week really helps build a closer relationship between the guys in the club,” Crawley said. “This group of guys has really helped shape what our club is now on campus, and it makes me proud to wear my letters!”
The Men and Women of Campus Ministries had a historic victory this year with their theme “Marathon,” directed by Kallen Smith and Kaylie Green. This was the first Campus Ministries win since 2009. Their theme was birthed from Smith’s love of running: “I was on a run listening to a song about running, and I thought, ‘has anyone done this before?’ There’s not much structure in just running, but there’s a lot of ups and downs in a marathon, and running a marathon has a lot of cultural significance in and of itself.” Both directors agreed that the most fun part of creating the show was music and lyrics.
Last year, Campus Ministries placed second in Tiger Tunes with the theme “Church Choir.” This was both Smith and Green’s second years directing, and they noticed a drastic difference in both years’ preparation for the week of Tunes. They commented that last year’s energetic freshmen really made the show, coming in ready to be all-in and commit to Tunes. However, because it was the first Tiger Tunes since COVID-19, it was honestly a chaotic experience as a director overall. “This year,” she said, “we knew how to make it good, and had the tools necessary and had the lessons we had learned last year to use this year. We were more organized and knew what we were doing.” Smith added, “Last year was kind of chaotic because we were both juniors who had been separated from Tunes by COVID and were only in the freshmen shows before. There was no chain of leadership leading up to being a director as there had been in the past, and we had to start over from scratch, from square one. We really wanted to do it justice, because CM is a place where there’s so many traditions in practice and we have so many trademark moves.”
Smith thought back to the moment leading up to final placements: “I grabbed Kaylie’s shoulders backstage thinking it might be us. I was thinking, oh my gosh, either we’re really up there or really down there.” When the final results were announced, the directors of Campus Ministries were in an elated, shock-like state, and Green just remembers being in a daze. Smith said he “loved seeing our people go bananas” when they won and then again outside of the theater.
Regardless of how Campus Ministries would have placed in Tunes this year, the directors’ hearts were in it. One thing they wanted the students under their leadership to take away from the show was the memories of the community made together in Tiger Tunes. Green said, “it’s all about community, and that’s why I always wanted to be a director. My tunes experience was formative to my time at Ouachita. I want the students to look back and say, ‘that’s where I made my best friends in the whole world,’ and know that they have people they can reach out to and be connected with.” Smith said, “They will always get to remember this purpose they were united for and that they found community in. They will take lessons learned here into their future clubs and future Tunes shows. There’s value in community and value in coming together with people who are different from you!”
