The Waa-Mu Show

The Waa-Mu Show (pronounced "wah mew") is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization within Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, that produces student written, orchestrated, produced, and performed original musical theatre work every year. The song lyrics, script, and music are developed in a series of classes. It is the institution's longest standing theatrical tradition and is held in Cahn Auditorium on Northwestern's campus. This tradition began as a musical revue, showcasing several different student-written Northwestern-inspired vignettes connected by one single theme. Over the last six years, the Waa-Mu show has evolved into an original full-length musical.

The first Waa-Mu show took place in 1929. A senior Northwestern student Joseph W. Miller and his classmate Darrell Ware wrote the script and staged the college musical comedy that became "The Waa-Mu Show," the first co-educational college musical show. The Women's Athletic Association (WAA) and the Men's Union (MU) collaborated to put on the first show. The name "Waa-Mu" is derived from the synthesis of the two groups’ acronyms.

The WAA had been staging popular all-female musical comedies since 1912; the MU had presented less successful all-male comic operas for a number of years prior to 1929. Both men's and women's shows had been losing money and Miller and Ware raised $1,200 by borrowing $5 a piece from interested students to finance the first show. It also was Miller's and Ware's idea to feature both male and female students in their premiere production. At first, the female WAA committee was reluctant about sharing the stage with the male Mu members, but they eventually agreed to combine talents. The premiere show that Miller and Ware collaborated on was Good Morning Glory.The Daily Northwestern wrote, "Campus interest is the highest yet for any single dramatic activity in University history." This review prompted the producers to begin formulating and writing the following year's show. Walter Kerr was the principal writer for the 1936 musical revue entitled It Goes to Show. Kerr graduated the following year and eventually become a famous theatre critic for the New York Times. After graduating in 1929, Joe Miller stayed at Northwestern to do graduate work in personnel administration, and Darrell Ware went to Hollywood to write screenplays. In 1931 Northwestern president Walter Dill Scott offered Miller a position on the university's staff as Freshman Advisor and Waa-Mu Director.

...
Wikipedia