Fall Fest 2012 Celebrates Sports, Athletes

For 39 years Fall Fest has been bringing Suffolk students together, and since 1997, also bringing Suffolk families together. This year celebrated the athletes from around the world, featuring talented performers from the Suffolk community.

Keeping with this idea, the theme for 2012 was titled “Sports Spectacular”. This variety show took place at the C. Walsh Theatre the weekend of Oct. 11- 13, with set design showcasing famous Boston athletes.

The first act was the Ensemble with a dance number called “I Hope I Get It”, from the musical A Chorus Line. The song is originally about hoping to get a part in a musical, but was adapted for the Fall Fest theme as tryouts for a sports team.

"At first I thought the theme was a little ironic,” said Ensemble member Nicole Banks. “Considering I was never that athletic… it was really fun to explore something different."

The dance added a mixture of workout routines and incorporated simple dance moves with a lot of energy. The number was positive enough that everyone in the audience watched with a smile on their face. This first number was a perfect way to begin the variety show as it set the tone for the rest of the night.

Lydia Ouellette and Morgan Pritchard led the Ensemble ladies in a dance to Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. Keeping with the boxing theme, the members of the act were all dressed in sweat suits with pink boxing gloves.

The Ensemble also adapted the Saw Doctor’s “To Win Just Once”. Each student had a shirt with a flag of a country, to pay tribute to all the countries that were in the Summer Olympics this year. Though it had a serious tone, the ending led to optimism - illustrating the message that everyone can be a winner.

“We chose a sports theme primarily because we were inspired by the Olympics,” said Kristin Baker, director of the Performing Arts Office at Suffolk.

Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is a fan favorite among Red Sox fans, and the Ensemble recognized this as they all dressed up in Red Sox shirts and jerseys. They also returned to the stage with an original song called “Nothing Like A Game”. It was a comedic, tongue-in-cheek song about how Suffolk University does not have a field.

Throughout the performance, the students wore a Suffolk University sports uniforms.

"All the sports uniforms were vintage from Suffolk University,” said Baker. “We are lucky to have an athletic director who doesn't throw anything away."

The ladies of the Ensemble came back to the stage, not to sing, but to dance. It was a medley of traditional songs played at sports games, such as Gary Glitter’s “Rock N’ Roll Part 2“ and Queen’s classic “We Will Rock You”. In between the songs, there were clips of when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup and when the Celtics won the NBA Championship.

Bradley Goulter and two other men from the Ensemble performed a comedic song called “Zamboni” by the Gear Daddies. Since the song was a country parody, all of them wore cowboy hats along with Suffolk hockey uniforms. They performed a comical dance that received a lot of laughs from the audience. The performers recognized that the song was corny but they went along with it anyway.

To end the show, the Ensemble put on all kinds of shirts that represented the Boston teams and sang Journey’s classic, “Don’t Stop Believing”. It was a tribute to all the athletes and performers who “never stop believing” in achieving their dreams.

"The show offered different viewpoints from athletes, sports fans, and performers,” said Kathy Maloney, assistant director of the Performing Arts Office. "[It] was just a celebration of all sports have to offer."