Greek Sing 2024: You can’t beat the classics

By Anna Cappella

For the last few years, I’ve been a big Greek Sing enjoyer. It’s one of my favorite traditions at Carnegie Mellon. It’s such a unique challenge to condense a full-length musical into something people can understand in 18 minutes, and I also love that, in no type of way, successful Greek Sing performances have much more to do with vibes and energy than with talent or training.

This year’s Greek Sing was much smaller than usual, and it actually ended before 10 p.m., despite starting at 5 p.m. There were only five performances by fraternity and sorority life organizations — one independently and four in pairs — as compared to past years when there were eight or more. In some ways, it’s sad to see so few organizations still involved in this tradition, but it also made the show much easier to watch.

Also enjoyable was the performances’ focus on familiar stories. The first performance was of “Hadestown” by Alpha Chi Omega. The only organization working by themselves, AXO performed a moving rendition of the classic story of Orpheus and Eurydice. I loved the goth costuming of the rock characters, and I thought that Hades had an amazing voice and stage presence. This story is such an essential that it almost seemed right that it was condensed in Greek Sing style. “Hadestown” was a great opener and a ton of fun to watch.

Next up was Kappa Alpha Theta and Sigma Phi Epsilon with “Mamma Mia!” and mamma mia! This was hands down my favorite performance. From the beautiful set pieces complete with flowers and fairy lights, to the costuming, to the highly impressive choreography, this performance was absolutely stunning. Every single member of the cast was convincing me that they were having the time of their lives. They managed to pack so many songs into such a short time, and each one was highly reminiscent of the “Mamma Mia!” movie, even down to specific lighting choices. Extra bonus points were awarded by me for including the famous “Lay All Your Love on Me” flipper dance in both choruses of the song, not just the last one (they knew we wanted to see it again).

“The Wizard of Oz” from Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Delta Theta was similarly wonderful. The mixing of Elton John’s most famous tracks with “Wicked” and “Wizard of Oz” music was a cool choice, even if I didn’t really understand it. The costumes and set were really convincing, and the story is so well known that I didn’t even really have to bat an eye to understand its shortened version. My favorite parts were the flower ensemble and the very accurate-looking Elton John costume during “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” This was so charming and really reeled me in!

Delta Gamma and Pi Kappa Alpha’s “The Greatest Showman” did a great job of simplifying the original movie. This performance had a cool, polished feel, and a consistent character base. It didn’t have the underlying hype that some of the other performances had, but I admittedly didn’t like “The Greatest Showman” movie that much, so I might be biased. The fire scene and the bearded lady were highlights.

Nearly matching “Mamma Mia!” was an in-house musical production of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” by Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Epsilon Pi. I really think that, if I hadn’t known better, anyone could have convinced me that the musical version of this movie does exist, and that’s what I was watching. All of the music and lines were written by the organizations, but it really felt professional. The songs were so cohesive, and the mashup of “Danke Schoën” and “Twist and Shout” was fantastic. The writing was natural, and the energy was so fun. I was very impressed!

Interspersed throughout the show were some really great a cappella performances by Soundbytes, the Treblemakers, and an amazing collaboration between Infra and Soulstylz dance groups. “Mamma Mia!” won a well-deserved first place, followed by “The Wizard of Oz,” then “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Everyone worked so hard, and this was a great Greek Sing!