Wisconsin's Weekend Morning News
How You Can Make Bucks Gameday Better
There's nothing more fun than going to a Milwaukee Bucks game, unless you're somehow involved. Well, joining us is Kate Ulrich. She is the Bucks Senior Director of Live Programming and Entertainment. And Kate, once again, you are going to have auditions for people who want to participate in both the Bucks, Beats, and the 4-1-4 crew. And that's coming up this later this week. So tell us first of all, what are the Bucks, Beats, and what do you have to do to be part of it? Yeah, Bucks Beats is our drum line. So that's a co-ed drum line that all you have to do is come audition as a percussionist. So you play cymbals, tenders, bass drum, or snare. Come out, show all your energy and you have a chance to be on Bucks Beat. What are you looking for during those auditions when you audition the drummers? Yeah, I tell everyone that the musical talent is great. However, I'm looking for someone who, if I'm standing up in the top of the 200 level and I see you down on the court, I can feel your energy all the way up by me. Ah, so it's important to smile, I would think. Definitely important to smile. Yes, of course. And what about some of those tricks that we see drummers do sometimes with toss on the sticks and things like that? Are you looking for that as well? Yeah, I think tricks are great. Certainly not mandatory. We have a couple really great managers and captains on the team who are awesome at teaching that stuff. So if it's not one of your specialties, that's totally fine. Still come audition. That's something that you can learn along the way and maybe take with you when you're done down the road. Now the other people you're looking for are individuals who want to be part of the 414 crew. What do they do? All right, so our 414 crew is our interactive hype team. They are the people who are out on the court, up in the stands, out in the community, getting people excited about Bucks basketball. Tell us specifically what they do. Okay, so they are pregame, they are rolling the t-shirts, they are getting the face painting ready, they're getting the tattoos ready, pregame, they're up on the concourse, you see them, giving those tattoos out, getting your picture taken with bango, doing all that stuff that you love to do before you sit down in your seat. And then they're the ones throwing the shirts, activating on the court, bringing that energy all game long to make the best experience in arena. Ah, so you don't have to have any talent other than to be friendly and energetic. 100%. That's all you need. All right, are there age limitations on either Buckspeets or 414 crew? There are not age restrictions. We do tend to hire people who are in high school and college, but there is certainly not an age restriction for us. All right, so tell us when are the auditions exactly and what do you do if you want to sign up? Yeah, all right, four on four crew auditions are on Wednesday, September 4th. You can sign up on our website ahead of time or you can just show up. Auditions start at 6 p.m. So come in the doors at 6, get yourself registered. If you're preregistered, that's great. And bring all the energy you can because that's going to be a high energy audition. Then the following week on Tuesday, September 10th at 6 p.m. Again, both auditions at 5 or 4. I should make sure I mention that for Buckspeets. You do not need to bring instruments. We do encourage you to bring your own sticks. If you have them, you're a symbol player and you have specifics on what symbols you like to use. Go ahead and bring those with you. Otherwise, again, you can register on site at 6 p.m. Or you can be registered at our website, bucks.com/entertainment. Kate, what's the best part of being part of the 4-1-4 crew and the Buckspeets? The best part is making fans day. Every time that a fan walks in, it could be their first game. And you want to make sure that you're giving them the best time. All of our entertainers walk away telling us that they just love being with the fans and bringing the energy to our game. Well, it's going to be a great season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Kate Ulrich, Bucks senior director of live programming and entertainment. Thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me.