Students invited to get involved with SPAMO
By Heather Von Neumann
IV Leader Staff
Introduction to SPAMO - 1001
During the past few weeks I have taken a small informal
survey from 36 IVCC students, 22 of them either never heard of or could not
describe the student organization SPAMO. The most popular response was “canned
meat?”
So what is SPAMO?
For those of you who do not know, here is your first lesson.
It stands for Students of the Performing Arts and Music Organization. We are
lead by students and guided by Professor David Allan Kuester.
The members help to build the sets, run the lights, create
costumes, and even run the concessions for all the theater-related events and
plays. SPAMO funds the coffee house, the comedy improve team, one- and two-year
scholarships and the night of new music. There is usually a dramatic play in the
fall semester, a musical or classic in the spring, as well as a student’s choice
event in the summer.
This year, to combine the madrigal and the fall play, Kuester
and Choir director Norm Engstrom have decided to put together a larger scale
show. The Victorian Christmas will be set in the 1800s and involve dinner,
songs, period costumes, and dancers. The spring semester musical this year will
be an energetic play adapted from the ‘70s cartoon show “School House Rocks.”
We will give you more information on audition and performance dates with times
later in the semester.
We help our members develop their skills in play writing and auditioning.
The summer piece from this past season, “The Green Room,” was
written by the cast and will be revised to send out to U.S. competitions.
We are hopeful that in the future it will be published and
then produced at high schools across the country. SPAMO funded the entire
production and, to assist the play writers, hired a company to create a DVD to
take along to competition. Every winter SPAMO helps prepare any of our members
who choose to go to the Illinois Theater Association auditions. The ITAs are
held in Chicago. SPAMO assists the students with head shots, travel and lodging
for the two-day event.
We would like to hear your opinions on some of our ideas for
upcoming events, such as a dance open to all students.
A weekly or monthly movie night, where works from specific
actors, directors or genres will be shown in the theater, is also in
consideration. All of these opportunities and activities are open to you, but we
also need to hear your opinions and ideas.
Everyone is welcome to come to the meetings, which are at
noon Mondays in the theater (Cultural Center F-113). This is a community theater
so anyone is welcome to audition, even those who are not enrolled in classes.
You don’t have to be a huge talent or even perform. You just have to have an
interest in the slightly dramatic experience of the theater.
Questions/Comments:
slightly_dramatic_spamo@hotmail.com