The Penn Stater Magazine

Penn State Greeks Strut Their Broadway Stuff

November 2, 2009 at 2:36 pm Tina Hay 1 comment

"Mamma Mia" won for best short performance.

Students from 50 Penn State sororities and fraternities showed off some impressive talents in music and dance yesterday in the annual “Greek Sing,” held in a sold-out Eisenhower Auditorium.

Basically the Greek Sing is a talent show in which members of two or three IFC/Panhel organizations (usually one fraternity and one sorority, or two fraternities and a sorority) team up to perform selections from Broadway musicals. Each team performs for six to eight minutes, then there’s a quick change-over, then the next team is on. So, in the course of three hours, audience members saw performances from 19 different Broadway shows.

"Tarzan" was one of 19 performances at Greek Sing.

Many of the students were singing, acting, and/or dancing onstage for the first time—and to perform in the 2,500-seat Eisenhower Auditorium had to be a little intimidating. But nobody seemed especially nervous, and quite a few of the singers could really belt it out.

I’m told that the groups had been working on their performances since September—not just rehearsing, but choreographing, building elaborate sets, coming up with costumes, the whole bit.

Greek Sing participants perform "All That Jazz" from the musical "Chicago."

The overall winner yesterday, as decided by a panel of judges, was Mary Poppins (Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Phi Beta Sigma). “Best costume” and tops in “spirit points” went to The Wedding Singer (Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Phi, and Kappa Alpha Psi), and Mamma Mia won for “best short performance” (Alpha Omicron Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Theta Delta Chi).

Greek Sing started at Penn State in 1968, though it didn’t last long; it was restarted in 1983 and has become especially popular in the last few years—as evidenced by the fact that nearly 2,500 students were willing to spend nine bucks a head to see it yesterday. Proceeds go to the Gayle Beyers Scholarship Fund. We won’t know for a couple of weeks how much money was raised, but last year’s Greek Sing brought in $13,000, which is not too shabby.

Read a Daily Collegian story on yesterday’s show here.

Tina Hay, editor

Entry filed under: Campus events, Fraternity and sorority life, University Park campus. Tags: Eisenhower Auditorium, Gayle Beyers Scholarship Fund, Greek life, Greek Sing, Interfraternity Council, Mamma Mia, Mary Poppins, Panhellenic Council, Tarzan, The Wedding Singer.