Anteater’s Ball raises over $3K for Well Coffeehouse project

Collins Alumni Auditorium was full of life Saturday night — life that will help bring water to those in need. The 13th annual Anteater’s Ball brought incredible vocals, comical dance routines and a lip sync battle. The variety show is hosted by Alpha Phi Chi and Pi Kappa Sigma. Director of Anteater’s Ball Chris Netterville, a junior English major from Nashville, said putting the show together is a big task, but the end result is worth it. “What separates Anteater’s Ball from Singarama or anything that the performance art departments put on is that Anteater’s Ball is solely aimed towards serving,” Netterville said. “We aim to use our performance talents to directly impact the world around us by raising money for local nonprofits.” This year, all proceeds went toward the Well Coffeehouse’s Groundswell Project .95. The Well is a non-profit missional coffeehouse providing quality coffee in exchange for funds to provide clean water for people around the world. The Groundswell Project .95 is raising $38,000 to support the Well’s next well drilling project in Nairobi, Kenya. The project plans include building three wells around that area. “Project .95 is designed to be able to help an area of Kenya that has not had rain in over seven years,” said Steve Morrow, secretary of the board for the Well Coffeehouse. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to be raised in a nation that might not potentially see rain for that long.” The Well has built six wells in Africa, three wells in Haiti and five water filtration systems around the world since opening two years ago. “It’s been a thrilling ride to watch God,...

‘Ready’ takes Singarama Sweepstakes Award

Ready or not, Singarama has come to a close for 2015. Ready or Not was also the group that stole the show this year, winning the Singarama Sweepstakes Award Saturday night in Collins Alumni Auditorium.  “We started working on the show before Christmas break,” script writer Craig Harwell said. “It has been a gradual process working out the kinks of everything, and we’re so pleased with how everything worked out. We feel like our script, music and dancing really came together in an amazing way, and that we told a great message to the crowd.” The story of Ready or Not was centered around Caroline, a girl who was getting prepared to move to New York to attend NYU. She was unsure if she was ready, along the worry of her father not ready to let her go. Despite winning, the show had some setbacks during its preparation phase. “Our original actor who played the father broke his back last week, so we randomly brought in someone completely new,” director Anne-Claire Smith said. “It took us forever, but we worked so hard these past couple days and it has for sure been proven since we won.” “Ready” consisted of the social clubs Phi Sigma, Sigma Iota Delta and friends. Among the group of friends was IDEAL student A.T. Banks. The IDEAL program has become an important feature on campus, and one that was made even more clear during the IDEAL tribute at Singarama. In between every show, a tribute video for the IDEAL program played, accompanied by the voices of the hosts and hostesses. It was shown to honor the students and...

‘Ready’ takes away staging category award at Singarama matinee

The group Ready or Not took away the staging category award at Singarama’s matinee show Saturday afternoon in Collins Alumni Auditorium. “We felt great about the win because we worked really hard on our lines, choreography and costumes,” senior Taylor Cao said. “I feel like we deserved it. We are so thankful.” Ready or Not also won the award for theme at Friday night’s opening show. “I was happy with our performance today,” freshman Sheley Hiter said. “I thought we brought a lot of energy. I’m excited to see how sweepstakes goes tonight.” The final showing of Singarama will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Collins Alumni Auditorium, where one team will take away the Singarama Sweepstakes Award. Photo gallery by Erin...

‘Ready’ wins theme category, ‘Set’ wins music category in opening Singarama show

Though snow and ice scattered the ground, Lipscomb students glided across the stage in Singarama’s opening night.  The 52nd anniversary of Singarama kicked off in Collins Alumni Auditorium on Friday following a cancellation of Thursday’s original opening night. Because of the cancellation on Thursday, the teams, following the themes of “Ready,” “Set,” and “Go,” were judged in the categories of theme and music during the same night. The three shows were Ready or Not, directed by Anne Claire Smith, Back on Set, directed by Carolanne Deaton and Go For Your Dreams, directed by John Alex Foster. Ready or Not and Back on Set won the awards for best theme and best music respectively. Deaton said that Thursday’s cancellation actually helped the group. “We got more time to practice, so I think it got us better prepared for tonight,” Deaton said. Savannah Pickens, a member of the group Ready or Not, also explained that, at first, the cancellation was a “bummer,” but the group was able to work on small details of the show during the extra time. She also said that the crowd had more energy. “It ended up being good because the crowd had more energy tonight, and we did too,” Pickens said. The next show will be a matinee on Saturday at 2 p.m. followed by the final show at 7:30 p.m. Photo gallery by Erin...

Thursday Singarama show canceled due to winter weather

Thursday night’s Singarama show that was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Collins Alumni Auditorium has been canceled due to road conditions and snow accumulation. Thursday’s showing of the highly anticipated event — that many students have worked on since January — will not be rescheduled. But Friday’s show at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s 2 and 7:30 p.m. showings remain on schedule as of today. Meanwhile, the Singarama groups “Ready,” “Set” and “Go” will continue working on their performances. “Another day of practice never hurt anyone,” sophomore Zack Eccleston said. While more practice time is helpful for the teams, Eccleston said he is still eager to perform the show for an audience. “We’re all ready for people to see it,” Eccleston said. “Hard work might be an understatement. “We had a month less to work on our shows this year compared to last year, so everyone’s been really great about learning everything in half the time we got last year,” Eccleston said. “Our directors have been incredible in creating this show, and everyone participating in it has put in so many hours to get these dances down, learn the music and still put a focus on school work at the same time.” This year’s Singarama production is Ready, Set, Go! featuring groups led by student directors Anne Claire Smith, Carolanne Deaton and John Alex Foster. Despite the weather, Singarama participant and freshman Eliza Claire Neese is ready to perform. “Our energy is high and I feel we are ready to perform,” Neese said. “If the weather is too dangerous [Friday] I encourage people to attend a different night, as the shows have been rigorously created...