UCL’S MUSICAL Theatre Society certainly know how to put on a performance. The production team of West Side Story used their acting ability to the full when they auditioned over two hundred UCL students – and then cast seven graduates.
On the West Side Story facebook group the production team states that “to be a part of this prolific new production you must have enthusiasm, commitment and talent”. What they don’t mention is that you also need to be old chums with Musical Theatre committee members.
The cliquey nature of many UCL societies means that nepotism is rife and new members are at a disadvantage when contributing for the first time. However, regulations are in place to prevent UCL students being deprived of opportunities for their “intellectual, cultural or physical recreation” – after all, it’s what we pay our fees for!
In the case of performance societies, those who aren’t students at UCL should only be cast as a last resort, and even then have to be approved by Theatre Users Sub-Committee. But such is the confusing nature of Union policy (the original documents were written so long ago that they are almost impossible to find in print) that non-UCL performers are not usually declared… until somebody complains. And complain they have, not just about West Side Story but about upcoming productions by the Drama and Jazz societies as well.
Why, then, have there been no recastings? Perhaps it has something to do with certain Sabbatical Officers being closely involved with performance societies. Student Activities Officer Jen Currigan and Arts Officer Ric Lipson have admitted that they are “too involved” to action any of the societies to recast their shows. They did at least mandate the TUSC to vote individually on whether to let each external perform in UCL productions. However, it would surely be in their interest to allow non-UCL students in, especially if they’re interested in performing in UCL shows long after their own graduation! Although recent grumblings from Musical Theatre Soc suggest the iron-fisted approach of this years’ Sabbs has paid off.
Let’s hope the show can go on...