Varsity Show

Varsity Show

The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series of sold-out performances every April. Dedicated to producing a unique full-length spectacle that skewers and satirizes many dubious aspects of life at Columbia, the Varsity Show is written and inspired by an extensive team of cast, producers and production personnel.

The long list of alumni who have written, performed, directed, worked backstage, or otherwise been associated with the show includes such distinguished names as:

  • William C. DeMille '00, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences;
  • John Erskine '00, pioneer of the Great Books program;
  • Edgar Allan Woolf '01, co-screenwriter of The Wizard of Oz;
  • Arthur Garfield Hays '02, who represented the American Civil Liberties Union at the Monkey Trial of John Scopes;
  • Ralph Morgan '04, the first president of the Screen Actors Guild;
  • Roy Webb '10, composer for scores of films, including Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Notorious, and Marty;
  • Dixon Ryan Fox '11, president of Union College;
  • Legendary lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II ’16;
  • Howard Dietz '17, lyricist for Dancing in the Dark and head of publicity for MGM, who created its famed Leo the Lion trademark;
  • Herman Mankiewicz '17, who with Orson Welles wrote Citizen Kane;
  • Lorenz Hart ’18, lyricist of My Funny Valentine, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and many other Broadway standards;
  • Humorist Corey Ford '23, who named Eustace Tilley, the mascot of The New Yorker magazine
  • Legendary songwriter Richard Rodgers ’23;
  • Cultural historian Jacques Barzun '27;
  • Albert Maltz '30, one of the Hollywood Ten and screenwriter for Destination Tokyo;
  • William Ludwig '32 screenwriter for The Great Caruso and Oscar co-winner for Interrupted Melody;
  • Herman Wouk '33 Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny and Marjorie Morningstar;
  • Martin Manulis '35, television producer and creator of Playhouse 90;
  • John La Touche '37, lyricist for Cabin in the Sky and The Golden Apple;
  • Minimalist poet Robert Lax '38;
  • Chicago bears quarterback Sid Luckman '39;
  • Oscar-winning screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond '41, Billy Wilder's co-author on The Apartment and The Fortune Cookie;
  • Holocaust author Gerald Green '42;
  • Political advisor Edward N. Costikyan '47;
  • Actor Sorrell Booke '49, who played Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard;
  • Edward Kleban '59, lyricist for A Chorus Line;
  • Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally '60;
  • Jon Bauman '69 of Sha Na Na;
  • Adam Belanoff '84, a writer/producer of Wings, Murphy Brown, Cosby, and The Closer;
  • Alexa Junge, Barnard College '86, an Emmy-nominated writer/producer of Friends and The West Wing;
  • Alex Kuczynski, Barnard College '90, Styles reporter for The New York Times;
  • Tom Kitt '96, Tony Award-winning composer of Next To Normal;
  • Jenny Slate (2004), cast member, Saturday Night Live;
  • Greta Gerwig, Barnard College '06, co-star of Greenberg (film) and several Mumblecore films;
  • Kate McKinnon, '06, actress on The Big Gay Sketch Show.

Read more about Varsity Show:  The I.A.L. Diamond Award For Achievement in The Arts, 118 Years of The Varsity Show

Famous quotes containing the word show:

    That’s what show business is—sincere insincerity.
    Benny Hill (1925–1992)