9 Comments
So by now you must have noticed- how could you not?- the Varsity Show’s recruiting gimmick on the steps of Low today. They say it’s to drum up interest in auditioning for cast and chorus positions in Columbia’s favorite musical tradition. (November 13th-14th, 8-11PM, kids! Prepare a song!)
We’ve also spotted camp-counselor recruiters wandering around campus, accosting students with evangelical zeal and handing out yellow leaflets. And, last time we checked, they were handing out free GORP baggies around their non-burning bonfire.
So, why the camping theme?
“It’s completely random. We wanted to go for something a little out there, something you wouldn’t expect,” one V-shower told Lydia DePillis.
Breaking: Tipster Josh Mathew reports: “In front of the Varsity Show’s setup are 2 twin, young boys in blazers with TV mics. There’s also a professional camera man shooting them.”
More pictures after the jump.
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9 Comments
@heh KCST doesn’t advertise itself on a broad level because it doesn’t have the money, and yet it gets 250-400 kids ranging from frat brigades to sun-deprived shut-ins to the kings and queens of hipster pretention at the free outdoor shows. It’s a little bigger than niche, and quite indicative of what you can do with a $1,000 budget. I think the V-show suffers from that law of diminishing returns, that sense of “oh, we have $40,000 and can pick any actors/actresses we want, we’re gonna be good no matter what.”
They are still really good, an overwhelming majority of the time. The V-show is a wonderful community-building show in a school without a whole lot of community-building things to do. But sitting on top of a pile of money and goofing around just causes complacency. They’ve got a great crop of writers this year, but I really hope they consider the fact that just because they have no limits on budget doesn’t mean they should think of themselves as invincible.
I liked their idea of “Turkey Day” or whatever where the older writers come in and tear the newer writers’ script up. Here’s hoping they’re really pushing for a good show this year.
@yeesh yeah, it’s almost like they want to pull in a large audience or something, and it’s almost like their funding is a reflection of how many people will go see it. How dare those image-bolsterers.
Far fewer people go to other shows, and they aren’t really about uniting the whole campus community, and so, while I agree it sucks when passionate people don’t have all the resources they need to put up Musical X, the admin. still funds them realistically. Latenite gets less attendance than a pizza give-away in Lerner, and even KCST is pretty niche – at least they don’t noticeably advertise themselves on a broad level. Maybe if they took it inside?
@a v-shower it is most certainly about encouraging new people to audition.. the ENTIRE cast last year were fresh faces. we want as many people to come out as possible.
@camp benjaminz I guess when you have a 5-digit budget you can do anything.
I mean, I love the V-show kids and all, but seriously. They should consider establishing a V-show fund where they give the kids that work on $500 budgets for their theater projects a few more bucks.
I’m always more entertained by the drunken hijinks of LateNite and the KCST outdoor show, anyway.
@schlurm i second that.
besides which, I have it from several v-show members own mouths that this is actually not about encouraging people to audition (all the people they’ll cast would audition anyways), but rather about early advertising and bolstering the image of how big and important the show is.
V-show is a master of publicity, without question.
@yes wonder showzen? holy shit. YES.
Kids on the street
Kids on the beat
Beat Kids!
Beat Kids!
@their smores were damn good
@sw i think that crew was from wondershowzen.
i saw one dude feeding questions to the kids while they interviewed a BEARDman
@Camp Can the Boy Scouts recruit on campus if the army can’t?