By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
Today is the day when some of the best acts from February’s All-University Sing will return to Waco Hall for the annual Pigskin Revue. Tonight at 7 p.m. — opening night — Kappa Omega Tau, Chi Omega, Phi Kappa Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Sing Alliance will take to the stage.
Yes — that’s nine acts instead of eight, unlike previous Pigskin Revues. According to Tampa, Fla. sophomore Zach Babajanof-Rustrian, the marketing vice president for Student Productions, there is an additional act this year due to a scoring miscalculation.
“It’s the first time this has happened,” Babajanof-Rustrian said. “We decided that instead of sending an invitation, we would just celebrate the top nine acts from Sing and just make it a bigger celebration, and just have fun with it.”
Babajanof-Rustrain, who also serves as the Tri-Delta Pigskin producer, said the many moving parts of the behind-the-scenes work on Student Productions‘ end has already begun for the fast-approaching performance.
“We have four different subcommittees within Student Productions,” he said. “We have marketing which I’m the vice president for, we have internal, we have show experience and we have hospitality.”
Marketing is responsible for posting on Instagram and reaching out to different press organizations, Babajanof-Rustrain said. On the other hand, internal helps to conduct drug testing on performers pre-show, show experience creates the “Pigskin” bubble letter sign the audience sees when they walk in as well as the playbills and hospitality orders food for the crew and gets gifts for the pigskin chairs to thank them for all their hard work, he said.
In regard to the stars of the show, the performers, Orange County, Calif., senior Kaitlyn Cork, head Pigskin chair for Tri-Delta, said there have been three full-costume, full-makeup rehearsals for Pigskin so far. Wednesday was the last one — the dress rehearsal. There, each group had the chance to perform and cheer on the other acts one last time before the auditorium is filled to the brim with students, staff, alumni and other on-lookers.
“That is where Waco Hall literally puts on a show without any audience,” Cork said. “I think that it helps prepare us for shows on Thursday and getting the energy and having an audience, because it’s hard. It’s hard when you’re performing in front of really no one, except for the Pigskin chairs.”
Cork said her group’s pre-performance ritual involves more than just running the routine, though. Once they have their call time and hair and makeup is done, their anticipation explodes.
“We’ll usually do a little circle,” Cork said. “We’ll pray, do like our hype chant … and then we’ll get out Pixie Sticks and we’ll play hype music. It’s just a time for girls to dance around and get hyped for going to Waco Hall.”
Along with the uniqueness of this year’s additional Pigskin act, Cork said the spirit of rivalry during spring’s Sing has added to the occasion.
“I think last year was one of the most competitive years of Sing we’ve had in a really, really long time,” Cork said. “And so I would just say get excited if you’ve never been to Pigskin before… and for people who are in Pigskin, cherish it because you never know when your next time in Pigskin is going to be.”
While Pigskin may not be a competition, Babajanof-Rustrian said he still encourages people to come if they haven’t had the chance to see the acts, or simply to come together in the spirit of homecoming. He also said Student Productions has several surprises in store for show-goers.
“While it [Pigskin] may not be as flashy as Sing, it’s still a really cool experience because it is a celebration,” Babajanof-Rustrian said.
