Talent tryouts

Erika McLeod

Auditions will soon begin for Christmas Coffeehouse

Liberty University will host its annual Christmas Coffeehouse Dec. 5. Student Activities (SA) will once again serve for hours on end to put on the show of the year.

Stephanie Ward, associate director of SA, is one of more than 20 workers who make it all happen. She oversees the marketing, supervisors and student workers. Ward and her staff have everything strategically planned out for this year’s Christmas Coffeehouse.

Tryouts take place Nov. 10-14 from 5 to 10 p.m. in the LaHaye Event Space.

Auditions for this year’s Christmas Coffeehouse are open to all students.

“Acts are able to choose one of the five nights to try out a full-length set of their performance,” Ward said. “Students who are looking to audition must try out with the song or performance exactly as we would see it on stage the night of the show.”

Students interested in performing in Christmas Coffeehouse must include talent related to the Christmas traditions. In previous semesters, Liberty students have performed a series of Christmas jingles, created their own Christmas music with live bands and performed dances ranging from ballet to hip hop.

“Aside from wanting acts to perform something related to Christmas, we judge their performance based upon a number of factors, including stage presence, song choice, vocals, overall performance and the overall feel of the show,” Ward said. “Our staff reviews tryouts once all 45-50 talents are completed, and (then we) make our decisions.”

The theme for the 2014 Christmas Coffeehouse is “At the Movies.”

“Each year, we review past Coffeehouse themes and make a decision based upon relevance, trends and popularity,” Ward said. “(My) most favorite part about the entire process of Coffeehouse is the night of the show.”

SA staff members and other departments, such as Event Production, put in months of preparation and nights of hard work before the night of the show.

“We start prepping for Coffeehouse in late September, the event goes on sale mid-October, and all of November is spent focusing on the details,” Ward said. “We’ll track (more than) 1,500 combined hours with our staff and Event Productions in planning and promoting this event.”

Christmas Coffeehouse usually averages 6,000 students each year.

Ward’s satisfaction comes from the joy of the students and the completion of the hard work of her colleagues.

“Each year, I’m surprised by the enthusiasm of the student body, acts, videos, student workers and the other departments we work with,” Ward said. “Don’t get me wrong, staying up until 4 a.m. to clean up isn’t the most exciting, but I think it’s worth it when you’re with people who you’ve accomplished so much with over the last semester.”

According to Ward, the constant development of Liberty’s annual Coffeehouse is primarily due to the response of the audience.

“The improvement of Coffeehouse is different each year,” Ward said. “We look at survey results, budget, analytics and other aspects that help us improve each event we do year to year. All of these play a major part in helping us decide what we need and what we want to do.”

The Vines Center undergoes a complete transformation as it is decorated and set up for Coffeehouse.

“Coffeehouse is my favorite event, because it’s completely built from the ground up,” Ward said. “You can walk into the Vines Center 100 times, but the night of Coffeehouse, you feel like it’s a different place. It’s nostalgic.”

For more information on Coffeehouse and tryouts, visit liberty.edu/sa.

McLEOD is a feature reporter.