Waa-Mu is one of Northwestern’s oldest theatre traditions; it was started in 1912 by the Women’s Athletic Association, with the Men’s Association joining the team later, in 1929. These students collaborated to write musical skits that were not connected to a single plot. It was in 2013 that the show transitioned into being a full-length student-written musical. This year though, Waa-Mu looks a little different.
EVAN TROTTER-WRIGHT: So the musical opens, this, this show Arch Madness opens with a big, like 15 minute opening sequence that is completely separate from all of the four mini musicals, with the exception of three characters introduced in this opening scene, that become kind of our guides through each of the four stories, which are all different realities of Northwestern. So these guides sort of take us between each of the stories and help weave them all together, through that overarching connection of these are stories of Northwestern students.
Evan Trotter-Wright is one of the music directors and the chair of the Waa-Mu executive board. He goes on to say that this year’s framework is brand new, but it harkens back to what Waa-Mu originally was.
Going back to a student-centric model has improved morale across the board at Waa-Mu. The assistant director and choreographer, Eva Burkholder, expands on this.
EVA BURKHOLDER: Oh, it’s, I think this year that like there’s just a lot more, a lot, a lot of people feel more passionate about it. There feels like, as Tommy says…
Tommy Rapley is the director of the Waa-Mu show and an acting professor at Northwestern.
BURKHOLDER: …there are a little bit higher stakes in surrounding the show, as in like people really love it and people really want to see new work created on this scale and have it continue to be existing on this scale. So I think there’s a lot of initiative. And a lot of people are really excited to be a part of this tradition and keep it going.
After the Virginia Wadsworth Center pulled financial backing this year, it was the tradition of Waa-Mu that allowed it to keep going.
TROTTER-WRIGHT: We have a great alumni network that have really stepped up this year to help us in fundraising and helping us to to make this show happen. But also what it’s done is really given, made the space for the students to step up and and take some leadership, and I think that’s gonna be really beneficial for the future of Waa-Mu, as we rebuild.
ETHAN DIAZ: Heather Headley came to our one of our rehearsals, you know, which she’s previous alumni and stuff and she just like talked about how much this show has like meant to her and, and somebody like that who’s, you know, big Broadway star who like comes back, it kind of like put things in perspective…
DIAZ: …and that like no matter what happens, we have to keep the thing going.
This was Ethan Diaz, he’s the Events and Business Manager for Waa-Mu as well as Dominic in the show.
With all these shifts in funding sources, many have been wondering–what’s next for Waa-Mu? The first step is to become an official student organization again.
DIAZ: Traditionally, Waa-Mu has been something that has been a student board before, a student group before, and, we kind of drifted away from that in past years and it’s become something that’s very faculty oriented, and we’re kind of trying to bring it back to that like student orientation, um, and really making it something that that students feel excited about and, and want to participate in.
As Waa-Mu transitions into a more student-centric model again, Burkholder and Diaz hope to involve more student designers as well.
BURKHOLDER: I think there’s a world in which there could be a lot more student involvement and I think the, both the students involved and the other like faculty people and, uhm, just like other outside people running Waa-Mu would really see a benefit, and I think it would be like a mutually be beneficial relationship, that’s the word I was looking for.
DIAZ: But talking about getting designers on as early as possible in the same way that STUCO shows do, and, and, you know, like grabbing a lighting designer the year before they have to produce a, a you know, create a lighting design for a show. And so we’ve, we’ve been talking about really just trying to get that engagement early on so that we also get a little bit more of the people that are excited about the show and excited about producing cool designs in Cahn.
Everyone is excited for audiences to see how Waa-Mu has changed.
TROTTER-WRIGHT: Like the writing and the story has never really been the focus of Waa-Mu for the student audience. And I think what they’re gonna see this year is, is like, how exciting it can be when the writing is something the audience can relate to and nd so our hope this year is that we have a sort of a larger general Northwestern audience, because all of these stories are about Northwestern.
DIAZ: I think that just for audiences to hear some of the music that people have put out is, it’s just, I mean, some of it’s just so incredible and like, feels like a musical theater show that could be put on Broadway.
Oh and, be on the lookout for a very special guest star–
BURKHOLDER: There is a character who is like the arch, like the personification of the arch, Rives, played by Professor Reeves Collins, who retired last year, and Rives is just an absolute joy and delight, and he really shines in this role.
TROTTER-WRIGHT: He’s so excited to be there, which I think just makes everybody so happy because everybody loves Rives, and he’s so, he feels so like blessed to be in that room, and we all feel so blessed to have him in that room.
The 94th Annual Waa-Mu Show, “Arch Madness”, runs May 2nd to 11th at Cahn Auditorium. Tickets can be found online at www.waamushow.org.
For WNUR News, I’m Ash Aranha.
