Auditions for Houghton’s next bi-annual variety show, SPOT, concluded and leave some people skeptical of the event. According to director of student programs, Greg Bish, SPOT is an event “created for current students” and is “their show to enjoy” unlike school concerts which are meant for students, parents, and community members. SPOT has a different theme each semester, and this semester’s theme is “SPOT ON, NOT ON”. Bish says this semester’s SPOT will include traditional comedy and music acts along with acts meant to be “not on” or purposefully bad, as the theme indicates.
In past years SPOT has been very popular among the student body and Bish believes there have been more auditions this year than in previous years. He says that students are “coming up with more ideas,” but with “less things planned out.” Ideally, in the future Bish would like to see more creativity with Houghton-oriented and original material.
The lack of original acts could become a deterrent for SPOT in Bish’s opinion, but students’ thoughts on original material versus parodies is mixed. Sophomore, Michaela Rosplock commented that SPOT is “guaranteed to be funny” even with parody acts. Senior, Neal Fahey thinks that parody acts are good to “fall back on” if a student does not have good original material to perform and junior, Clara Robertson likes parody performances when they are familiar or based off of something well known. Michael Carpenter, one of this semester’s hosts, said, “I think we have some really funny acts, and I think we have some some really well done musical acts that people will really be able to enjoy.”
Something different about this season’s SPOT is that it will not include a house band because of the high amount of musical acts. Along with Greg Bish and the performers, the hosts also put a large amount of work into making SPOT a popular and exciting event among students. Along with Carpenter the other hosts are Travis Trotman, Simba Kamuriwo, and Joshua Duttweiler who were interviewed and selected by the Campus Activities Board (CAB). They were chosen for their ideas on how they would run the show and are expected to entertain the audience in between acts as well as inform them of per
Auditions for Houghton’s next bi-annual variety show, SPOT, concluded and leave some people skeptical of the event. According to director of student programs, Greg Bish, SPOT is an event “created for current students” and is “their show to enjoy” unlike school concerts which are meant for students, parents, and community members. SPOT has a different theme each semester, and this semester’s theme is “SPOT ON, NOT ON”. Bish says this semester’s SPOT will include traditional comedy and music acts along with acts meant to be “not on” or purposefully bad, as the theme indicates.
In past years SPOT has been very popular among the student body and Bish believes there have been more auditions this year than in previous years. He says that students are “coming up with more ideas,” but with “less things planned out.” Ideally, in the future Bish would like to see more creativity with Houghton-oriented and original material.
The lack of original acts could become a deterrent for SPOT in Bish’s opinion, but students’ thoughts on original material versus parodies is mixed. Sophomore, Michaela Rosplock commented that SPOT is “guaranteed to be funny” even with parody acts. Senior, Neal Fahey thinks that parody acts are good to “fall back on” if a student does not have good original material to perform and junior, Clara Robertson likes parody performances when they are familiar or based off of something well known. Michael Carpenter, one of this semester’s hosts, said, “I think we have some really funny acts, and I think we have some some really well done musical acts that people will really be able to enjoy.”
Something different about this season’s SPOT is that it will not include a house band because of the high amount of musical acts. Along with Greg Bish and the performers, the hosts also put a large amount of work into making SPOT a popular and exciting event among students. Along with Carpenter the other hosts are Travis Trotman, Simba Kamuriwo, and Joshua Duttweiler who were interviewed and selected by the Campus Activities Board (CAB). They were chosen for their ideas on how they would run the show and are expected to entertain the audience in between acts as well as inform them of performers.
SPOT will take place at the on the Saturday before homecoming week’s activities instead of at the end of them this semester. Trotman said, “It’s good to have it on the Saturday, that way a lot more students can come. Usually students do come to SPOT so it’d be great to kick off with SPOT and then you end off with the concert.” Another reason for the change has to do with the importance of the dedication of KPAC. Duttweiler said, “KPAC is a big deal, so they’re kicking it off this year. I’m not sure if this is a permanent change or just because of this year, but I think they’re leaning towards it.” SPOT will take place on Saturday, September 27th in Wesley Chapel. Students will have access to the chapel at 9:30 p.m. and the show begins at 10.