If you’ve never seen Jordan dunk Astaire dance or Clooney act watch Pepperdine’s Songfest. It’s all the same— art.
Nearly 500 student athletes yes I said athletes will grace the Smothers Theatre stage this week putting on the show of the semester.
These athletes are not on full-ride sports scholarships nor do they get special access to training center protein shakes. You won’t find many baseball or tennis stars here but you’ll certainly see athletes all the same.
Some are music majors while others study business or liberal arts but all have turned Songfest into the competitive and exhilarating sport it is today.
Sixty-plus hours of outside-the-classroom preparation learning choreography and singing new songs with 150 of your closest friends has been about as athletic an experience as four days in the U.S. Marines. Songfest like Coca-Cola brings people together.
From day one I knew I had discovered uncharted territory. What I didn’t know was how athletic this sport of Songfest really would be. Two weeks to learn five songs and five dances? Who am I kidding; I’m a baseball player not an athlete. As soon as I figured out a cannon wasn’t a fancy digital camera it became very clear I had a lot to learn— and fast.
Songfest practices teetered on the brink of controlled chaos on a nightly basis but I decided it was “Now or Never” to go big or go home. I had regretted not being a part of the Songfest tradition in 2009 and vowed that that opportunity would never again pass me by no matter how time consuming.
The process was grueling. Two-hour rehearsals every night for weeks and two-a-day practices on Saturdays at oh-dark-thirty made the Bubonic Plague look like a pancake breakfast at the Brock House.
Take a spoonful of “Dancing with the Stars” mix in a pinch of “American Idol” and a top it off with a dash of “Project Runway and you’ve got yourself a little dose of Songfest.
Even the blush and bronzer couldn’t emasculate the ripped, toga-wearing men of Rome. Athletes? I think yes.
Songfest-ers’ dedication to the craft and attention to detail can turn ordinary people into superstars overnight. Whether you become Michelangelo, King Tut or Alex Cartwright, it takes much more than strong arms, fast feet and quick hands to truly captivate an audience and Go the Distance.”
As it turns out it also takes an iron stomach. If not for the encouraging tap on the shoulder as the curtain opened Tuesday night I would have egressed my chicken strips from that evening’s dinner.
And possibly food from the dinner before that.
I would have egressed an enchilada from the third grade.
Trying to remember dance moves lyrics and the giant plastered-on smile all while staring down the headlights of a Boeing 747 things can get a bit tricky. I never quite had 8 million-watt light bulbs flashing at me while I tried to turn a double play. But then again I never had been a big-time Songfester until now.
Athletes strive for greatness and each and every show that goes by you better believe I’ll be giving it my best. I’ll be cementing my name in Songfest lore for generations to come and may even be remembered by a big win in the name of GGS (or as we all like to call ourselves “God’s Gift to Songfest).
Much like marshmallow Peeps and the Snuggie Songfest has changed my life. So much so I roll out of bed for class and don’t even care what my hair looks like because well it’s Songfest week and we’re pampered athletes. Guys walk around with more makeup than Lady Gaga and no one even notices.
For five days normal people are star athletes. Don’t believe it’s possible? Come find out. It’s not every day you get a chance to witness history in the making.
