On Friday, Sept. 25, SMU hosted its 82nd annual Pigskin Revue, a show in which students perform different acts, such as comedy, singing, dancing and music. In celebration of SMU’s 100th year, this year’s Pigskin Revue also included a special multimedia commemoration of SMU’s first century.
Many different groups of SMU’s student body performed this year, including the Mustang Band, the Mustang Mavericks, SMU’s a capella groups, Southern Gentlemen, Bell Tones and Stampede, the Voices of Inspiration, and the SMU Ballroom Dance Team, as well as individual performers Chris Thrailkill and Brynne Brandenberger.
The show, themed “A Century in Review: A musical and pictorial tour de force through SMU’s first century,” opened with the Mustang Band’s performance of “Overture-March Gloria,” which was the opening song performed at the first Pigskin Revue in 1933. Other pieces performed by the Mustang Band included “SMU Fanfare,” “It Was a Very Good Year,” “Somos Novios,” “Mack the Knife,” “Under the Sea” and a “Finale Medley.”
Other vocal and dance performances included “Beautiful Girl/Stand By Me” by the Southern Gentlemen, “God Bless Texas” performed by the Mustang Mavericks, “Fallin’” performed by Belle Tones, “My Girl” performed by Stampede, and a dance to “Sing Sing Sing” performed by the SMU Ballroom Dance Team.
Performers who participated in this year’s Pigskin Revue spoke about what it is like to be a part of the tradition, homecoming week, and the centennial celebration.
“It is great that we get to be a part of the production because we are such a young group and SMU is so old,” said Joe Hutchinson, president of the vocal group Southern Gentlemen. “We get to add a little bit of us to the campus.”
“It’s good to feel that the school wants to hear us sing at something like this,” said Jared Agnew, an SMU senior also in Southern Gentlemen. “It’s awesome to perform something at a 100 year event, and we’ve seen the group come from bad gigs to something awesome like this… it makes us feel good.”
Belle Tones member Emily Towler also had something to say about how much it meant to the Belle Tones that they were asked to sing at this year’s Pigskin Revue.
“Performing for SMU’s 100th birthday means that we get to show our talents to important people and reach out to alumni and perform with important and talented groups at SMU.”
Senior Southern Gentlemen member Elliott Bouillon also added his thoughts.
“This year’s Pigskin Revue is unique because it is the 100th birthday of SMU,” said Bouillon. “It reminds us of the history, tradition, and spirit of SMU.”
This year’s Pigskin Revue not only celebrated the rich history of SMU, but continues a tradition that was started 82 years ago. With performances by many students and with faculty, staff, students, and alumni in the audience, Pigskin kicked off the Homecoming weekend, bringing the community of SMU together to celebrate its wonderful past while also looking towards its bright future.
