After weeks of running lines, blocking scenes and choreographing dances, MU’s Homecoming Talent competition gave the entire MU community a reason to celebrate.
Community members gathered at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night in Jesse Auditorium to watch Greek Life houses group up to perform original skits. Each group incorporated elements of MU into skits centered around a specific celebration.
“I feel like you can’t go wrong with the celebration theme,” Kappa Delta President Rose Eppensteiner said.
Pi Beta Phi President Julie Vossbrink said she saw the chapters incorporate more creativity into this year’s skits.
“In previous years, we were supposed to focus a lot on Homecoming,” Vossbrink said. “Truman would save the day. This year, a lot of chapters went outside the box and did things differently than they’re used to.”
Monday night began with Delta Gamma and Kappa Alpha Order’s “Into the Woods: A HallowHomecoming.” Three witches cast a spell during Delta Gamma’s Halloween party, turning four guests into the characters they portrayed. A guest dressed as Little Red Riding Hood received help from the Big Bad Wolf and saved her friends from the wrath of the witches’ curse.
Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Delta Chi took the stage for the second performance of the night. “A Very Jewish Christmas” told the story of how Santa’s Jewish accountant debates whether to take Christmas off and celebrate the eighth night of Hanukkah with his family.
In Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Tau Delta’s “Homecoming Olympics,” Columbia hosted these coveted athletic games. Announcers narrated competitions between teams from countries such as the United States, Canada and “Fratopia.” Truman leaded Team USA to win the Homecoming game.
Phi Mu, Phi Delta Theta and Phi Kappa Psi’s skit, “Truman Goes to the Masters,” showed how Truman wins the Putt-Putt National Championship so he could rebuild Faurot Field and save Homecoming.
Alpha Chi Omega and Lambda Chi Alpha wrapped up Monday’s performances with “Pride and Presidents,” in which presidents came to life during a field trip to the Presidents’ museum. A student helped restore peace between the fighting presidents.
Audience members returned Tuesday for a second night of high-energy performances. Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Alpha began the night with their Kentucky Derby skit, where a jealous competitor tried to slip award-winning horse Zoomin Truman sleeping pills, but the eccentric character Helga diverted his efforts.
Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Gamma Sigma and Tau Kappa Epsilon portrayed a wedding gone wrong in their skit, “An Ex-traordinary Wedding.” When the groom’s ex-girlfriend impersonated the bride and married him, the wedding singer and the rest of the cast of characters helped the groom realize his mistake.
Alpha Phi, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Nu depicted pre-college woes with their skit, “The Disasterous Acceptance Letter.” In the skit, a jealous father-son duo attempted to exchange another student’s MU acceptance letter with a false rejection letter, but were caught by the other boy’s father.
Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Rho and Beta Sigma Psi ended Tuesday night by parodying a popular MTV show, “My Super Sweet Sixteen.” Truman’s younger sister, Trudy, plans an extravagant birthday celebration coinciding with the centennial Homecoming in “Trudy’s Super Sweet Sixteen.”
Wednesday night began with “Billy’s Birthday Nightmare,” performed by Pi Beta Phi and Pi Kappa Phi. The night before his birthday, character Billy dreamed the clown his mother hired kidnaps him. Billy’s toys then came to life and save Billy from the wrath of the clown alongside Billy’s mother and his admirer, Ruth.
Delta Delta Delta and Delta Upsilon’s “Late Night in Ireland” follows Truman and friends in a quest to the rainbow which will restore Truman’s coloring from a curse from a leprechaun that turned it green.
In Zeta Tau Alpha, Delta Sigma Phi and Sigma Pi’s “Who Dropped the Ball?,” a couple from the ’50s accidentally transported to 2011 in a time machine but returned to their rightful time period before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve.
Chi Omega, FarmHouse and Kappa Sigma incorporated magic into their celebration with “When Voodoo Takes Over Mizzou.” In the skit, Iowa State’s mascot, Cy the Cardinal, stuck a pin into a voodoo doll of Truman, temporarily ending his school spirit. An MU student stole the voodoo doll, removed the pin and restored Truman’s enthusiasm.
Kappa Delta and Phi Kappa Theta ended the performances with a twist on American history entitled “The Real Founders of America.” After the British captured several American colonists, colonist Dolores romantically entices Commodore Daughtry, leading to the release of the colonists and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Michelle Gerchen, assistant director of Alpha Chi Omega’s skit, said the talent competition came together well.
“I think everyone worked really hard, and it definitely showed,” Gerchen said. “You see the personality of each house in each skit, and it was cool to see everyone else’s.”
Recordings from all three nights can be viewed online. Winners will be announced with the Homecoming final announcements 8 p.m. Sunday on the steps of Jesse Hall.
