SING! by the Numbers

SOPHFROSH SING!

323 words

Soph-Frosh SING! was led by sophomores director Alec Shafran and executive producers Ella Krechmer and Avni Garg, and freshmen producers Inour Awad and Lianne Ohayon. To more effectively track their expenses, the Slate created a new budgeting system where one person from each crew was designated to manage the budget of their crew.

Soph-Frosh SING! had a budget of approximately $6,450—with $1,200 coming from the Student Union (SU)—which was allocated among the crews according to their needs. “Some crews get substantially more than others. That way, everyone is able to buy their items, get reimbursed for it, or buy them through [SING! faculty advisor Marissa] Maggio,” Awad said.

This year’s Soph-Frosh SING! had to adjust their budget for their larger cast, with $1,170 spent on costumes in total. “Costumes [got the most] because we have a bigger cast this year, [so] they had to make costumes for more people,” Garg said. The budget was also allocated to costumes for select dance crews, such as Modern, Latin, and Belly, which needed to buy leotards, tank tops, and other necessary garments.

In addition, this year’s Soph-Frosh SING! required a considerable amount of technical elements and planning due to their theme of wonderland. “This year was a little bit more expensive because our vision was a little greater,” Garg said. Soph-Frosh SING!’s tech crew purchased a lot of wood and expensive batches of specific silver nails, spending $936 in total, second to costumes.

The art crew spent $415 in total for paint, paintbrushes, and other art supplies. Flow spent $585, which went toward replacing light sticks, which “are quite expensive, especially since Flow has [around] 30 people,” Garg said. While the makeup crew was allocated $500 to purchase new makeup kits to ensure cleanliness, they only spent $155 for their materials. The lights and sound crew also went under budget, spending $297 on microphones and tape compared to their allocated $400.

JUNIOR SING!

314 words

Junior SING! was coordinated by director Liam Kronman and producers Maddy Andersen, Ruth Lee, Jillian Lin, and Zoe Oppenheimer. In addition to the $1,200 the SU provided, Junior SING! had an additional $4,035 from dues and extra funds from their bake sale and assassin participation fees, for a total budget of $5,785.

Due to the heavy workload most students face during junior year, Junior SING! typically has fewer participants compared to the other SING!s, which poses a disadvantage budget-wise. “We get the same basic amount for SU, but then you get a different amount depending on how many people are participating because you get it directly from dues,” Lee said. This year, Junior SING! had 269 crew members, compared to Soph-Frosh and Senior SING!’s 355 and 341 crew members, respectively.

Despite this, Junior SING! faced minimal issues with budgeting. Though participants who were in more than one crew were allowed to be charged for more dues to accommodate, the Slate forgone this to make up for the already increased dues, which were raised to $30 this year.

To efficiently manage the budget, the Slate stressed communication and efficient management to their crews. “We’re really clear on communication, so it's very transparent, and I know exactly how much they’re spending, which is the whole process of getting your forms and filling out the spreadsheet and making sure you’re on top of it and making sure we’re on track, so nothing strange goes on behind the scenes,” Oppenheimer said.

The majority of the Junior SING! budget was allocated toward the costumes crew, which spent $1,679 for fabric and other materials, and the tech crew, which spent $1,169 to build their set. The props crew followed third, spending $519. Though most crews spent within their budget, this year, the lights and sound crew required an extra $100 for their equipment.

SENIOR SING!

313 words

Senior SING! was led by director Sara Stebbins and producers Debi Saha, Lena Farley, Ahmed Sultan, and Clarise Khan. The Senior SING! received $1,200 from the SU, $4,740 from the dues of their 341 participants, and $377 from bake sales and busking events, amassing a total budget of $6,317, which is considerably larger compared to previous years and the other SING!s this year.

Using this budget, Senior SING! spent $6,036.96, with $280.04 leftover. “In previous years, we have always been left with about $1,000, but this year we are finishing with about a few hundred,” Saha said in an e-mail interview.

Their budget covered the expenses of all of their crews in addition to Slate-specific purchases, in which $150 was spent. To determine the amount of money allocated to each crew, the Slate considered the cost of necessary expenses and the number of people in the crew. “We ask every crew to list items they expect to buy that season and the expected prices for those items,” Saha said.

When the total expenses of certain crews exceeded their budget, the Slate accommodated by eliminating excess expenses. “If we add up all the allocated budgets and they end up being greater than our final budget ($15 in dues multiplied by the number of people in your SING! along with $1,200 from SU and any additional budget we might have raised), we start cutting down on specific expected expenses and marking them as unnecessary,” Saha said.

The majority of the Senior SING! budget was used toward the costumes and tech crews. The costumes crew spent $1,837, most of which went to buying various fabrics, clothes, and tools, while the tech crew spent $1,139 for wood. Though flow followed with $416 in expenses, the rest of the Senior SING! crews spent less than $400 each.