A mix of 1980s hits and contemporary music and a wandering janitor are not even half of what was showcased at the 61st Annual Theta Xi Variety Show.

Greek organizations practiced and perfected choreographed dances and scripted dialogue for months to go along with this year’s Hollywood theme.

All the groups displayed hard work in front of a large crowd in Shryock Auditorium Saturday night. The show started when the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity transformed into glowing stick figures, who pumped the audience up with their dance moves to techno beats.

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Coordinator of Student Development Andy Morgan was pleased by what the four fraternities, three sororities and other dance organizations had organized since the beginning of the semester.

“Not many student organizations can train and are able to do such a large scale show,” Morgan said.

Morgan said every group that performed was required to create everything in its act from scratch.

Kelsey Adams, a freshman from Troy studying health care management and a member of Delta Zeta, said this was her first show and first time being involved in a major production.

Delta Zeta and Beta Theta Pi took home the first place award for the large act group after competing against the two other teams; Alpha Gamma Delta paired with Tau Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Kappa in partnership with Alpha Tau Omega.

Adams said her sorority and the Betas collaborated for months to create their own version of an E! True Hollywood Story.

Adams said she was not nervous at all, but excited to finally perform in front of everyone and see what the other groups had done. Adams said the whole experience allowed for new friendships and a chance to get closer to her sisters.

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“It was a lot of fun to get to know each other and spend time bonding,” Adams said.

The last act of the two-hour show was the Southern Illinois Dance Company, which performed to Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People.”

The show’s director, Samantha Malec, a senior studying paralegal studies from Orland Park and a member of Sigma Kappa, said putting a large production together was very stressful but a lot of fun.

Malec said she enjoyed directing because she loves planning events and being involved with the Greek system. Many people have a negative perception of Greek life and this show is a chance to display the talent fraternities and sororities have, Malec said.

Malec said the show is open to anyone on campus who wants to get on stage and display his skills.

“It is made for anybody and I am confident that this show will continue to grow for many years to come,” Malec said.

Jenn Lofton can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 270 or [email protected].