LITTLE ROCK — Whether you're attending a sunrise service or going on an egg hunt, Easter is a season steeped in tradition. At Harding University, the long-standing tradition known as Spring Sing is set to hit the Benson Auditorium stage for its 35th year Thursday through Saturday.

For Spring Sing, students of the various social clubs at Harding compete in a musical revue that includes Broadwayesque routines choreographed to fit a particular theme. Winners are chosen in a variety of categories, with the prizes being donations to charities of their choice. An estimated 12,000 people see the production each year, and hundreds of students from around the world participate.

"Spring Sing gives the opportunity for students to use their talents and spend time with people in the process," said Steven Frye, director of the event. "It creates camaraderie and promotes professionalism. There is something empowering about being a part of something that is bigger than yourself."

In recent years the production has centered on a theme so as to give the show more structure. This year's theme, as selected by Frye and his staff, is "Unfinished."

"The show unfolds as an unfinished rehearsal," Frye said. "Recorded announcements sound like outtakes. The first number is stopped and given notes and then completed. The set is obviously incomplete. We watch acts getting into place behind a translucent screen. By the end of the production, all the set is finished, and everything is running smoothly."

Frye has served as Spring Sing director since 1995. He is a professor of communication and director of Spring Sing and producer for Searcy Summer Dinner Theatre at Harding. He says that the event provides a service to both the university and the community.

"Spring Sing is seen by more potential donors, more potential students, more community members and more out-of-state guests and alumni than any other event in the calendar year," Frye said. "Spring Sing generates a huge amount of business for Searcy in hotel, restaurant and retail traffic each year. It remains a huge opportunity for [artistic] expression for our students and showcasing the incredible talent to the community."

This year's show will involve seven social clubs with about 800 students, as well as an ensemble cast of 27 and four hosts and hostesses to emcee the event.

The hostesses are Jillian Shackelford and Haley Jane Witt, and hosts are David Walton and Logan McLain.

McLain graduated fromSearcy High School in 2006 and has been coming to Spring Sing shows since he was a small child.

"It is hard to live in Searcy and not make it to at least the occasional Spring Sing," he said. "I, on the other hand, was a fanatic. I loved getting out of school as a kid and getting to watch the college students do their thing."

Having done community theater locally for years, McLain said that although he loves performing and plans to continue doing it for fun, he is pursuing a career in pharmacy. Being a Spring Sing host is an experience he would definitely like to repeat.

Since the production is traditionally held on Easter weekend, it is being staged earlier this year than ever before. Frye noted that it almost had to be renamed "Winter Sing" because it starts on the very first day of spring. The early performance dates meant that staff and students have had to start work on Spring Sing in the early autumn, with auditions for hosts and hostesses held in September, club preparation kicking off in October and ensemble auditions done in November.

In addition to the hosts and ensemble cast, the Harding University Jazz Band will play a large part in the show. They will provide the music for numbers including "Come So Far" from Hairspray, "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot, "After Today" from A Goofy Movie, and the finale, "All For One" from High School Musical 2. In addition, east host and hostess will have feature performances and musical intros for each club show.

The Spirit Award is voted on by club show directors and goes to the club that best demonstrates the spirit of Christ in the process. Awards are also given for visuals, music and staging. Those honors are chosen by a panel of nine judges that includes professionals from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas. Locally, Searcy residents Mat Faulkner, Kami Horton and Tina Niederbrach will serve as judges this year, along with event producer Cindee Stockstill.

The overall award is the John H. Ryan Award, which tallies the points from the other performance awards. It is named after the former producer of Spring Sing, John H. Ryan, whostarted the production in the 1970s and served as producer for more than 30 years. The winning club will receive $1,000 to be donated to a selected charity. Other clubs receive donations to their favorite charities based on their placing in the overall judging.

"We are very proud of our students, our school and our production," Frye said. "We believe that our production values match anything you might see in Branson or a theme park - at a lower price."

Spring Sing performances will be held in Benson Auditorium on the Harding University campus at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at the Harding University box office located in the Benson lobby from 1-4 p.m. or by calling (501) 279-4255.

Three Rivers, Pages 114 on 03/16/2008