Singarama dazzles and Murder Mystery sweeps in final performance

The final night of Singarama had arrived, the cast and crew getting ready for their last show. The energy was high, as all three shows waited to see who would win the Singarama Sweepstakes Award. Murder Mystery, The Final Frame, wound up taking that title… along with every other award.

Before the show could begin, the audience was instructed what to do should there be a tornado mid-performance. Assistant Dean of Student Engagement Landon Parrish showed them where their evacuation locations would be, and how they could get to them.

Warnings out of the way, the show’s hosts kicked off the evening with flair and fun. They danced and sang across the stage to “A Night to Remember” from High School Musical 3, accompanied by Lipscomb’s student dance team. The Singarama hosts included Hayden Cassetto, Ben Meador, Anna Morris, Hannah Varghese, Brock Loyd and Kayla Dunn.

Show host Ben Meador kept the performance going with a “one-minute history of film.” Starting from the very first moving picture, The Horse in Motion, and running up to today with the Marvel universe and other such films, he managed to run through it in exactly 59.65 seconds.

“We’ve done this every night,” said co-host Anna Morris, “and he’s never gotten it in under a minute.”

The stakes were high, as – at the end of the show – the overall Sweepstakes Awards for the weekend would be announced. Last night, Murder Mystery took both the Visual Elements and Choreography Awards. At today’s matinee, Murder Mystery also won the Theme Award. Hopes were high for the cast of Murder Mystery, The Final Frame, as they hoped to also take the Sweepstakes Award.

After the history of film, the shows were underway. Hosts Hayden Cassetto kicked things off with “It Had to be You” from When Harry Met Sally. Hannah Varghese followed him with another classic movie hit, before the first show of Singarama – the Romantic Comedy, Memories of Us.

The audience broke out their phone flashlights during several of the songs in Memories of Us. Laughter abounded during their short film as the cast reenacted the confession of love scene from Notting Hill, with a little bit of a comedic twist. The show was full of small town charm and time travel, keeping the audience hooked until the end.

The show ended with high energy, the entire cast rushing to the front of the stage in Singarama tradition. Next up, the Murder Mystery show, The Final Frame. Before that cast took to the stage however, the Singarama Hosts sang a few more movie hits, such as Brock, Ben and Hayden’s rendition of “Man of Constant Sorrow” from O Brother, Where Art Thou? Thunder rumbled outside as they sang, and the men were followed by Anna Morris’s rendition of “I Will Survive.”

The Final Frame had the audience laughing and on the edge of their seats, waiting to find out “whodunit?” The show was packed with witty banter and clever dialogue, and twists abounded throughout the performance. The cast showcased their skill through not only their singing and dancing, but their rapid costume changes as well.

At the end of the show, hosts Hannah Varghese and Kayla Dunn sang “Defying Gravity” from Wicked to a chorus of cheers from the crowd. After a brief intermission, the ladies among the hosts started things rolling with a performance of “Zero to Hero” from Hercules.

Then, in a twist of pure irony, host Ben Meador sang “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” from the new Twisters. As Brock Loyd joked, Ben was singing about what “almost canceled the show.”

The final act of the evening was the Superhero show, Behind the Mask. The show featured high energy and humor on the set of a superhero film under production. The audience cheered as the men faced off in sets of stunt doubles for the Guys’ dance and laughed as wild fan girls chased around “Captain Chris” during the Girls’ dance. The show ended with “I’m Still Standin’,” the cast shouting out the lines “behind that mask you use.”

To close things out, the hosts came out one more time. Brock Loyd sang “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin'” from Teen Beach Movie, backed up by Anna Morris, Kayla Dunn and Hannah Varghese. Dean of the CEA Mike Fernandez and Assistant Dean of Student Engagement Landon Parrish – the show’s executive producers – came out to explain how the judging process worked and introduce the dancers and band. As they introduced everyone, the audience voted on their favorite film.

Finally, to finish out the night, the hosts joined together to sing “From Now On” from The Greatest Showman, a performance that got the audience stomping and clapping. The cast members from all three Singarama shows filling every aisle in the building added to the energy in the auditorium. By the end of the song, nearly everyone was singing along.

Mike Fernandez and Landon Parrish came to the stage once again, bringing the show’s directors along with them. The clubs had put together gifts for their directors, surprising them before the awards were announced.

The awards for Vocals and Entertainment were announced by Fernandez and Parrish. Murder Mystery, The Final Frame took both awards. With that, Murder Mystery took all five of the Singarama Awards.

President McQueen came to the stage to announce the winner of the Sweepstakes Awards. Four shows and 10 weeks of rehearsals later, the official winner of the Singarama Sweepstakes Awards was The Final Frame. Though this wasn’t much of a surprise, the cast of The Final Frame exploded with cheers, rushing to the stage to celebrate.

“Remember, we are all winners at Lipscomb University,” McQueen noted.

Finally, to round out the night, the hosts, cast and crew led the audience in the singing of “A Common Love,” an age-old Singarama tradition. As the audience filed out and the cast celebrated on stage, the band closed out the evening with the instrumentals of “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” a nod to the wild weather of the past week, and Singarama’s continuance in spite of it.

To read more about which songs featured in each of the Singarama shows, and more, check out Ashlen Jones’ article “Lights, camera, Singarama: ‘Movie Premiere’ debuts amid area storms” from Thursday night.

Feature image of the cast of “The Final Frame” with the Sweepstakes trophy taken by Micah Barkley.