By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
Of the 16 judges coming to Waco Hall to judge All-University Sing this year, some will be traveling across the country, while others will simply take a walk from the Student Activities office.
Olivia Moses, assistant director of Student Productions, said the process of judge selection includes choosing four experts in dance, four in music and four in theater production. The remaining four judges represent Baylor’s Student Activities department.
“We try to get a mix of people who are real-life practitioners, so professional musicians and professional dancers,” Moses said.
Susannah Chapman, graduate apprentice for Student Productions, worked closely with Moses in judge selection. She said the process included many meetings in which they threw around ideas and narrowed down the search, oftentimes looking for faculty from colleges around the nation.
“We want to have the perspective of someone who’s doing this professionally for their job, but also someone who understands that this is an immature production in college,” Chapman said. “We want to make sure that the judges recognize that [these are] students, and they are putting in a lot of work and hours outside of also going to school.”
Chapman said the process of judge selection aims to bring well-rounded perspectives in every area because they want acts to receive full credit and recognition for their excellence in dance, music and theater production.
“The main value that we’re trying to find when we look for judges is always equity,” Chapman said.
Moses said another factor that adds to the fairness of the judging panel is if judges have never heard of Sing before — as is the case for most judges. One of the most notable judges in the past was “High School Musical” actor Corbin Bleu, who Moses said was shocked by the production value.
“It’s really rare that anyone has ever seen or heard of it,” Moses said. “We really want that, because it gives us a chance to have a really unbiased perspective of the production.”
According to the Student Activities website, judging is divided into five criteria: entertainment value, musical quality, choreography, creativity and theme development. Scores are tallied after the last judged night, and the results are sealed for announcement.
Moses said Student Productions doesn’t give away much about the competition to judges before they see it. Rather, they allow them to have an open-minded view of the show.
“We just give them an overview of some of the competition rules, but we really don’t tell them much — because again, the expertise that they have is enough to judge the competition,” Moses said. “These are working professionals and academic experts in whatever their area is.”
Additionally, Moses said the final four judges represent Student Activities to account for the fact that many students aren’t actually involved in the art of dance, music and theater production.
“It’s to kind of add a bit of that real-life flare,” Moses said. “Most of, if not all of our students are not musical theater students, [and] this is an extracurricular activity, and so we add a little bit of that realism.”
The first All-University Sing took place in April 1953, and since then, Chapman said Sing has united generations of students and families.
Additionally, Chapman said Sing helps form a sense of camaraderie among the students who participate.
“It binds people together and bonds them,” Chapman said. “It’s something that, once you go through it together, you’ve made a lot of friendships and a lot of really meaningful memories.”
