by Shelby Talbert | Mar 28, 2022 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Fairytales sometimes do come true. That was proven by co-directors Nate Pearson and Erin Bell, directors of the sweepstakes winning Team Fairytales in this year’s Singarama. “I just feel on top of the world, it feels so good,” Pearson said, after the top award was presented to his team by President Candice McQueen. “ I told myself that this year I would make a great Singarama show, so it just feels good.” Pearson, an elementary education major from St. Charles, Illinois, and his colleague Bell, a psychology major from Nashville, both are seniors and said they consider this a perfect farewell. “It’s been so much work going into it, and it’s been fun getting to this point and just seeing it all come together,” said Bell. Team Fairytales was followed by Team History which gave a performance inspired by a real-life 1990 robbery. Team Mystery relied on the intrigue of a murder mystery for its performance. Over 300 students participated in this year’s Singarama either on stage or behind the scenes. “The cast, and really everyone put in so much work into it,” said Pearson. “And I am just so proud of them and they are all so good.” Photo by Kathryn...
by Shelby Talbert | Mar 23, 2022 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Student Spotlight
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Singarama will be held in person, in Collin Alumni Auditorium, March 24-26. The 59th Annual Singarama event had looked different the last two years. The pandemic halted the 2020 competition, and last year’s event was held without an in-person audience. The event is back in full force this year with the theme being Story-time. Shawna Mann is a communications major from Florida and is one of the four hosts of this year’s Singarama.“I am most excited for Collin to be back with people, it’s been three years since I’ve performed because of COVID and I’m just excited to have a live audience,” said Shawna. This year’s event will have four hosts, and it is their job to move the night along and to create smaller numbers in between each of the social club performances. “It’s awesome but nerve-wracking,” Shawna said. “We either perform solo or with two other people as hosts so we have to make sure and be extra entertaining cause we can’t fade to the background.” The three teams competing this year are History directed by Mallory Nunley; Mystery, directed by Shelby Bratcher; and Fairytale, directed by Nate Pearce. The teams have been in the rehearsal process since the start of the semester, and for many, it will be their first experience with performing. Sidney Webster is a youth ministry major from Charlotte, NC, who is participating on the fairytale team. Webster was hesitant to audition at first, however after a dissuasion with Fairytale director Nate Pearce she decided to join. “I feel like my main role is to help the director’s image...
by Shelby Talbert | Mar 11, 2022 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Characters swooping off the pages of comic books and onto the silver screen is a major genre in Hollywood, with the latest being “The Batman” directed by Matt Reeves. It’s hardly the first time onscreen for The Caped Crusader, but the audiences keep coming back for him and similarly heroic colleagues. “It’s an inspiring story, but it’s also a story about how far the human condition can go,” said film major Alex Eaton. “I think that’s why we keep coming back,” said the student from Atlanta of billionaire Bruce Wayne’s latest turn in his bat costume. Superhero films have become a large part of the movie industry, with several of the highest-grossing movies from the last 15 years being Marvel properties. Of course, COVID closed theaters and has otherwise affected the box office, but that didn’t stop the superheroes: “Spider-Man: No Way Home” made over a billion dollars globally and is the biggest domestic debut since the pandemic began over two years ago. Comic book rival DC has not surrendered the box office to Marvel. Justice League, Wonder Woman, Superman and, of course, Batman, aka The Dark Knight, keep returning to the screen and streaming services for DC. Audiences are looking for heroes, according to Eaton. “These are characters who stand for justice in the right way,” Eaton said. “I think the success of characters like Batman and Spider-Man ties back to the idea of normal people taking it upon themselves to help the innocent.”Dr. Christopher Bailey is a professor in the College of Entertainment and the Arts who last month released his own superhero film “Incognito.” Bailey said he was...
by Shelby Talbert | Feb 24, 2022 | News, News Slider
Lipscomb’s engineering college ended its Day of Giving with the second annual Rocket Car Rally. The first rally was in 2007, but the event took an extended hiatus, before reemerging last year. The tournament consisted of nine teams with 18 students participating. The event was put on by the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering and was spearheaded by Dr. Fort Gwinn Jr., associate dean. It was Gwinn who revitalized the event last year. “This year worked great,” Gwinn said, after this year’s Feb. 22 event, held in a parking garage. “It usually works better outside, but it was still good!” Originally meant to take place out front of the Fields Engineering Center, the event was moved under the cover of the nearby parking garage because of inclement weather. “The timing device made a big difference,” he said. “It eliminates any disputes, and it really made all the difference in the world.” Teams were instructed to pick team names and then begin making and decorating small cars to race during the rally that was a part of the Day of Giving celebration. The tournament worked through a bracket system until one car was awarded the grand prize. The event started strong as the eight teams went up against each other, and a surprising underdog arose in the form of Team Vector. Katie Kirby and Emilia Hook, both mechanical engineering majors, came out on top, winning their first bracket. “Well, we won our first round and we were not expecting to,” Hook said. “Usually the lighter car wins and ours is pretty heavy, but luckily that was not the deciding...
by Shelby Talbert | Feb 8, 2022 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
“When She Had Wings,” staged by the Department of Theatre Feb. 4-13, follows a 9-year-old named B, who believes that when she was younger she could fly, and she spends the story trying to remember. The play by Susan Zeder is specifically written for a younger audience, and parents are encouraged to bring their children. Bakari King is an adjunct professor and College of Entertainment and the Arts board member who directs this production, his first at Lipscomb. King first began his involvement in the theatre department as an ensemble member in the school’s 2013 production of “Ragtime.” King said he was steered toward Lipscomb. “I was teaching around Nashville and I had a connection with a great friend who said you need to be at Lipscomb,” King said He said he was drawn to this play, because he believes this story helps connect children and adults with their inner playfulness. He goes on to say that people should have things in this world that help them create and pretend and that he hopes this show inspires that in people. Caylin Maguire, a junior acting major from Nashville, is in the title role of the play being staged at Shamblin. She said one of her favorite things about this show is being able to invite a younger audience to a live theater experience, noting that it was her own theater experience as a child that inspired her to become a performer. “The story is about finding yourself and overcoming hurdles. Especially nowadays, I think that’s a really important message to people of all ages.” While the production teams are...
