The annual University of Wisconsin Humorology show closed its curtains for the final time of its 2009 run Saturday night after raising at least $18,000 for charitable causes.
“We heard over and over again from people that the entire show was enjoyable,” Humo Executive Producer Molli Shambeau said. “The caliber of the production was definitely a step up from past years.”
According to Shambeau, as of press time, the amount raised by the philanthropic event had not been calculated, but as of two weeks ago, at least $18,000 had been donated. She said they are hoping the final amount, which will go to the Chris Farley Foundation and One Heartland, will be over $20,000.
The show was composed of six 20-minute musical comedies performed entirely by UW students. Each show was run by UW Greek houses.
Delta Gamma, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Gamma Ro’s act, which followed the adventures of Scooby Doo and his gang in solving a mystery at a hotel overrun by zombies, took the top prize after being named best in the show by a panel of judges.
Gamma Phi Beta and Sigma Phil Epsilon took second and Kappa Alpha Theta and FIJI placed third.
Other themed awards were also given out, including best choreography, which went to Kappa Kappa Gamma and friends.
Individual performers from Tau Kappa Epsilon and Delta Delta Delta were awarded best male and female vocalists.
UW senior and Delta Gamma performer Christine Binkley, who has participated in Humo before but never as a part of a winning cast, said she felt like the win was “a long time coming.”
“I knew it was going to be a really tough competition,” Binkley said. “I really felt like our show had a lot of facets to it this year. I think we had many intricacies and characters in our show that made us stand out from the other shows.”
Binkley said performing in the show required a huge time commitment, as casts begin rehearsing in September to prepare for auditions in December to be a part of the final six casts.
“Win or lose, it’s always worth it,” Brinkley said. “This is my third year in the show and every year it’s been worth it. You gain so much out of performing, out of just being together for that amount of time.”
Now that the three nights of shows have been completed, Shambeau said the feeling is bittersweet after putting so much time into the shows.
She did note though that while this year may be over, it will soon be time to start collaboration for next year’s show.
“It’s both happy and sad,” Shambeau said. “Being in the show, it’s the most exciting weekend of the year, for sure, for a lot of people after all this work, it’s a lot of stress, but afterwards its such a great release and to know we made so much money and so many people came to the show.”
