The Olsen Twins, Austin Powers and the ghost of Frances Willard all made appearances in skits at this year’s Maysing celebration Wednesday night.
Sponsored by the Order of Omega and the Greek Leadership Honors Society, the talent show brought Northwestern sororities and fraternities together to perform their interpretation of this year’s theme “Rewind: A Look at NU Through the Years.”
The winning skit, “Peeling Back The Rock”, performed by members of sorority Kappa Delta and fraternity Delta Chi, showed Jack Daniels kicking the ghost of Frances Willard as The Rock displayed the message, “Our house is dry, but Evanston isn’t,” to the delight of the crowded Cahn Auditorium audience. Alcohol was a prominent theme at the show, and The Keg of Evanston served as the setting for several skits.
Many of the groups also lampooned the NU dating scene by using bawdy humor, showcasing cross-dressing fraternity brothers and singing to clever lyrics.
“If I don’t call you back this time tomorrow, carry on, carry on, as if nothing ever happened,” the members of fraternity Phi Delta Theta sang to the tune of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Throughout the night, sorority members jammed to 50 Cent, fraternity members ogled Olsen twins impersonators who were taking a tour of the campus and Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies declared, “I’ve been here for four years and still haven’t hooked up.”
Even Frances Searle made an appearance, although she was pregnant and had mononucleosis.
“I met this guy, and we hit it off,” said a Gamma Phi Beta member, whose group won third place in the competition. “But that was the problem. He hit it off before I could even unbutton my shirt.”
One Weinberg freshman commented on the sexual nature of some of the numbers.
“Some of (the skits) were a bit raunchy,” said Emily Peck, a member of Alpha Chi Omega.
But not all of the students depended on sexual humor to fuel their performances, as the show had its fair share of absurdity too. A giant hot dog shimmied across the stage during Alpha Chi and Theta Chi’s skit, and a Delta Chi member showed some leg in a tight NU cheerleader’s costume.
“Oh my God, they’re Irish dance fighting!” screamed a fraternity brother in the audience as two Phi Kappa Psi boys in kilts did a rendition of Riverdance.
One student said that particular performance was one of the highlights of her evening.
“The Irish dance fighting made my year,” said Jenny Tison, a Weinberg freshman who won second place in the competition with her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, and Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.
At the end of the night, one audience member said her first Maysing met her expectations.
“Maysing was like a theatrical production,” said Amika Porwal, a Weinberg freshman in Alpha Phi. “I hope all the houses choose something tasteful next year.”
