*** Welcome to piglix ***

Scotch'n'Soda

Scotch'n'Soda Theatre
Founded 1938
Type 501(c)(3)
Location
Origins The White Friars Club
Area served
Pittsburgh
Key people
Board Of Directors
Website Scotch'n'Soda Theatre

Scotch'n'Soda is a student-run theatre organization that resides on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. Its initial dedication was the creation and production of original musicals, but due to declining student interest in writing musicals over the past decade, it has taken to performing both professionally published and student-written materials. Students are welcome to write, compose, design, direct, perform in, and otherwise become involved with every aspect of each production. The organization is open to all Carnegie Mellon students from all backgrounds who are interested except Drama Majors, due to restrictions from faculty, and all performances are public with varying ticket prices.

Scotch'n'Soda Theatre is the nation's second oldest student theater group, and is one of the oldest and largest student organizations at Carnegie Mellon University. It was founded in the fall of 1907 as The White Friars Club, providing a theatrical outlet for the students of the Carnegie Technical Schools. Their first production, in the spring of 1908, was entitled "All in a Dormitory" and gave a comical look at life on campus. The White Friars Club was short-lived, as student theater went on hiatus during World War I. It wasn't until 1932 when a student theater group called The Bacchanalians formed to produce a musical for Carnegie Tech's Spring Carnival.

The organization took its current name in 1937 during a vote by the membership. Unconfirmed rumor has it that the name with the most votes was Hop'n'Scotch, but the leaders of the organization fixed the vote so that Scotch'n'Soda came out victorious. In any case, the newly named student-run theater troupe founded by three drama majors began producing original full-length musicals for Spring Carnival. With the exception of a five-year break from 1942 to 1946 for World War II, Scotch'n'Soda has been producing musicals for Carnival continuously to the present.

In the 1960s, Scotch'n'Soda began expanding its season by producing shows for Homecoming. While still heavily populated by drama majors, or "dramats," S'n'S provided a theatrical outlet to students of all disciplines, allowing for high degrees of collaboration on original works. Certainly the most notable of these original works from the 60s was the musical "Pippin, Pippin" by drama student Stephen Schwartz, produced for Carnival 1967. This show was produced on Broadway just five years later in 1972 under the shortened title "Pippin", and was directed and choreographed by the famed Bob Fosse.


...
Wikipedia

...