Soph-Frosh SING! Stage Collapses During First Show

On Thursday night’s annual Soph-Frosh SING! performance, those who were in the audience or on the stage heard a loud crash followed by students being hurried off the stage. One side of the risers had fallen, and a number of students were injured.

Participating in an annual tradition, all of the participants of Soph-Frosh SING! had rushed onto the stage to sing their spirit song. The risers were designed to hold approximately four people, but eight people were standing on them. One side of the risers fell, taking a few students with it. The students on the stage were rushed off and ushered back into the cafeteria, where they were told to go directly home. The next nights’ SING! shows were allowed to continue, but the use of risers for future performances was prohibited.

Sophomore Anna Grace Goldstein, one of the Soph-Frosh chorus directors, was on the stage when the incident occured. “We [the chorus] kept singing for a few more seconds, because we were in shock, and I didn't know people were on top of the part of the set that collapsed. The lights and sound crew were in a different situation because they remained in the lights and sound booth above the stage. They, too, were in shock after the collapse but were not immediately told to leave. Instead, the crew had to stay inside the theater to put away the equipment,” she wrote in an e-mail interview.

Most students remembered a similar experience: singing, hearing a crash, continuing singing, and eventually rushing off the stage. From there, students were told to change quickly and return home as soon as possible.

The majority of the students interviewed were satisfied with the way the administration and the Department of Education handled the situation. “I think the administration handled the situation very well. They waited through the night for the commotion to settle and decided to release official statements the following day, which I think made the whole ordeal less amplified. They also refrained from pointing fingers, and [avoided] attributing the set collapse to any one group or person, which also quieted hysteria,” sophomore Caroline Magoc, a member of the stage crew, explained in an e-mail interview.

However, students also expressed that some false rumors were spreading concerning the number of people injured and whether or not future shows would be canceled. Students said that the spread of rumors could largely be attributed to the lack of information given by the administration, perhaps its only misjudgment.

The students involved in the collapse had varying reactions. Some described being in a state of shock during and after the event. For other students, the stage collapse simply reminded them of the importance of safety. An anonymous student said in an e-mail interview that, “As somebody who participates in STC and SING!, I now take safety to an even higher regard than before. Although I know very little about tech crew and their safety procedures, I strive to make sure that all of the equipment that I use on lights and sound is safely configured and stored.”

However, something positive did come out of this tragic event, at least for chorus. “We [chorus] were all shaken…I do think, though, that the incident gave us drive, and that it was a big part of why we were so good on Friday night—we had this energy,” said freshman Jonathan Schneiderman, a member of chorus, in an e-mail interview.

While the Soph-Frosh SING! producers have yet to respond to our request for comment, the participants of SING! and the rest of the Stuyvesant community hope that the students injured on Thursday night’s performance are on their way to a speedy recovery.