Jasmine woke up with the after taste of cranberry juice that had been kept in her mouth from sleeping and drinking at the same time earlier that morning. The thought of today's events frightened yet excited her at the same time: Opening Marathon!
A Little Background
The Drama Department at Syracuse University is an interesting place: A bunch of horny, constantly drunk, wackos is the only accurate way I know how to describe it. But then again, theatre people do tend to have their own style. Well this style was unique and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of it. It's called "Opening Marathon".
"Every fall semester when the freshman move in
(Naa na na na naa na na na na)"
The very first line that is sung by the entire chorus explains the time of the event. But wait, let's rewind. Opening Marathon is a show, a picnic, a party, mixed with a bunch of drunk freshman and upperclassman all in one. It's called Marathon because of the house the party is thrown at. The house is name "Marathon" and the 6 guys who throw it are called the Marathon Boys. Of course it's called "Opening" because it's the first and biggest one thrown each year. Basically, Opening Marathon is like Opening Ceremony at the Olympics. It's pretty big in the drama department. Now, let's break it down.
"Don't need to read and write cuz we can dance and sing
(Naa na na na naa na na na na)
Don't need to walk to CORE or make a fuss
You can always get to class on the warehouse bus
Want to hear from them now
They're the freshest kids in town
R-R-R-Roll Call!!"
Now some of you may recognize the song from "Hairspray" (with the words tweeked a bit). That's because, Opening Marathon begins with a 5-10 minute skit, performed by the freshman of the drama department. It's written by chosen "Senior Reps", one from each section of the department (Acting, Musical Theatre, Design, Tech) and they write songs to already written melodies that are bashing or poking fun at things that Seniors did that were just plain stupid. Like for instance, one guy got head from two girls in the backseat of someone's car while he was driving. This is how that part of the song went to the already written Melody of the song "Telephone Hour"
"Did you hear about Luke?
In the back of Rob's car
Did you know there were two
Now he plays his guitar"
Now, all of the freshman perform this with choreography and everything in the Storch Theatre in front of drunken upperclassman. (Yeah, loads of fun). And when it's over, all freshman receive a card with either addresses or names on it and they hold them up as the upperclassman storm the stage to look for their names. Whoever you get, is your BIG (an upperclassman that takes you under their wing). We are called their LITTLE. It's actually a really big thing. Upperclassman will ask questions about their little (Prety, ugly, guy, girl, etc) or try to see what's in the song beforehand. THIS IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN! It's serious guys.
Opening Marathon.
I got to rehearsals that day in my jeans and a white t-shirt that I had borrowed from Josh, like all freshman in the drama department were supposed to wear for performance that day. I was giddy with excitement yet nervous to meet my BIG and nervous for the party that night. Everyone of my colleagues were dressed in their own version of jeans and a white t-shirt, excited for the day. The Senior Reps came in, taking charge, making us rehearse the piece 3 more times to tweek some things before we performed. The time was 3:30 when we stopped to break before the show. Many minutes passed as I sat and talked with my friends about who our BIGS might be. The Senior Reps made us practice one last time, quietly though, because upperclassman were already waiting in the hallways.
4:00 came. Banging on the doors began. My friends and I laughed because Ben, the Musical Theatre Senior Rep, told us that they would be drunk when they watched us. We just didn't take them seriously. 4:15 and the doors opened. We were forced back stage by the stairwell so they wouldn't see us. We heard the bumrushing of people, stamping, screaming and yelling as they sloppily made their way to their seats. My friends and I jumped and smiled and laughed as our adrenaline began pumping.
4:30 and the drunk crowd was getting restless. They began stomping and clapping to that famous beat
"(Clap clap clap clap clap)
WE WANT FRESHMAN!
(Clap clap clap clap clap)
WE WANT FRESHMAN!"
We couldn't hold in our laughter backstage. Stage managers continuously told us to get quiet. Soon the time came, 4:45 hit and we knew that it was game time.
"ARE THERE ANY SENIORS IN THE HOUSE," Jen, the Design Senior Rep yelled. The Seniors bumrushed the stage stomping and yelling. We still couldn't see but we felt and heard the noise. Soon the noise died down and we began slowly trickling out of the steps.
"Oh...wait, we forgot the freshman," Jen continued. "...ARE THERE ANY FRESHMAN IN THE HOUSE!"
When that was said, all of us ran on stage, white t-shirts and jeans everywhere. We yelled we screamed right along with the Seniors in the audience. Some seniors even hopped on stage. One of them was one of the 6 Marathon boys, who were drunk. They came to the show in their robes and boxers.
Once we began performing, we often had to stop for the talking, screaming, laughing, jumping on stage and ranting of the Seniors. One guy, who was sitting in the front row, realized that part of the song was about him, hopped over the railing, yelling drunkily.
"FUCK YOU!"
But it was all in good fun because he was laughed jokingly. Aftwerwards, we performed the "Grand 'Ol Flag" song with the drama department dance, the set finale to all Opening Marathon performances. The Seniors performed it with us. When the show was done, we held our cards up and got scared as the the Seniors charged towards us. They pushed, shoved and yelled to find their LITTLE. It was like WAR! Finally, I found my 2 BIGS. They were both female and one of the girls was a girl that we talked about in the show. EEK! But, she said she didn't mind, it was a joke anyway.
My BIGS took me to the picnic that followe. As I ate with my BIGS friends and her LITTLES, Nneka and Kimi, I laughed as I watched one of the Marathon boys walking in the middle of the street, robe open, boxers showing. They had no shame.
Before the actual party started, Nneka, Kimi and my BIGS took us to our dorms to get some overnight things. We all knew we would be too drunk anyway. They took us to their apartment where they gave us alcohol, weed and brownies.(I just took the alcohol, lol). Before we made it to the Marathon house, which was right up the street we were all drunk. Our BIGS made our Marathon shirts. Mine read
"Sorry I was late to CORE
I was getting Wasted at 604
Property of Jes and Ween"
CORE is my acting class and 604 is the address of the apartment. When we made it to Marathon, everything went crazy from there. As soon as everyone showed up, it got hot and sweaty all over the place. People took off shirts and pants (including me). And seeing as though half of the party was full of gay men, they walked around in speedos and Police hats. Drinks were being sold by the second and the place was moist with sweat. I don't actually remember every guy I danced with but it was hectic. I was grided against walls, touched in appropriate places, lifted up in the air, had my legs wrapped around unfamiliar guys and gays and stood in the rain, letting my weave disintegrate. And you know what...I loved every minute of it!
By the time I left the party, I had been baricaded in the bathroom by one of the Marathon Boys, I had flashed my boobs to some gay guy who liked me, taken my shirt off, broke my sandals, danced with Mike, John, Troy, Some gay guy, Some gay black guy, some straight hot guy, squeezed in the middle of two sandwiches, been in the back of a sandwich, danced with Milly and some other chick, danced with Kimi, danced on a speaker, slipped on some water, seen like 16 penises at one time, been drenched in my sweat and the sweat of others, and grinded on basically EVERY DAMN THING in the house. And I only stayed there for 3 hours because my BIG was uber drunk.
When I got back to her apartment she looked at me, laughed and said.
"You basically just had SEX on the dance floor"
I smiled, too drunk to comprehend....and passed out on her couch.
A Little Background
The Drama Department at Syracuse University is an interesting place: A bunch of horny, constantly drunk, wackos is the only accurate way I know how to describe it. But then again, theatre people do tend to have their own style. Well this style was unique and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of it. It's called "Opening Marathon".
"Every fall semester when the freshman move in
(Naa na na na naa na na na na)"
The very first line that is sung by the entire chorus explains the time of the event. But wait, let's rewind. Opening Marathon is a show, a picnic, a party, mixed with a bunch of drunk freshman and upperclassman all in one. It's called Marathon because of the house the party is thrown at. The house is name "Marathon" and the 6 guys who throw it are called the Marathon Boys. Of course it's called "Opening" because it's the first and biggest one thrown each year. Basically, Opening Marathon is like Opening Ceremony at the Olympics. It's pretty big in the drama department. Now, let's break it down.
"Don't need to read and write cuz we can dance and sing
(Naa na na na naa na na na na)
Don't need to walk to CORE or make a fuss
You can always get to class on the warehouse bus
Want to hear from them now
They're the freshest kids in town
R-R-R-Roll Call!!"
Now some of you may recognize the song from "Hairspray" (with the words tweeked a bit). That's because, Opening Marathon begins with a 5-10 minute skit, performed by the freshman of the drama department. It's written by chosen "Senior Reps", one from each section of the department (Acting, Musical Theatre, Design, Tech) and they write songs to already written melodies that are bashing or poking fun at things that Seniors did that were just plain stupid. Like for instance, one guy got head from two girls in the backseat of someone's car while he was driving. This is how that part of the song went to the already written Melody of the song "Telephone Hour"
"Did you hear about Luke?
In the back of Rob's car
Did you know there were two
Now he plays his guitar"
Now, all of the freshman perform this with choreography and everything in the Storch Theatre in front of drunken upperclassman. (Yeah, loads of fun). And when it's over, all freshman receive a card with either addresses or names on it and they hold them up as the upperclassman storm the stage to look for their names. Whoever you get, is your BIG (an upperclassman that takes you under their wing). We are called their LITTLE. It's actually a really big thing. Upperclassman will ask questions about their little (Prety, ugly, guy, girl, etc) or try to see what's in the song beforehand. THIS IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN! It's serious guys.
Opening Marathon.
I got to rehearsals that day in my jeans and a white t-shirt that I had borrowed from Josh, like all freshman in the drama department were supposed to wear for performance that day. I was giddy with excitement yet nervous to meet my BIG and nervous for the party that night. Everyone of my colleagues were dressed in their own version of jeans and a white t-shirt, excited for the day. The Senior Reps came in, taking charge, making us rehearse the piece 3 more times to tweek some things before we performed. The time was 3:30 when we stopped to break before the show. Many minutes passed as I sat and talked with my friends about who our BIGS might be. The Senior Reps made us practice one last time, quietly though, because upperclassman were already waiting in the hallways.
4:00 came. Banging on the doors began. My friends and I laughed because Ben, the Musical Theatre Senior Rep, told us that they would be drunk when they watched us. We just didn't take them seriously. 4:15 and the doors opened. We were forced back stage by the stairwell so they wouldn't see us. We heard the bumrushing of people, stamping, screaming and yelling as they sloppily made their way to their seats. My friends and I jumped and smiled and laughed as our adrenaline began pumping.
4:30 and the drunk crowd was getting restless. They began stomping and clapping to that famous beat
"(Clap clap clap clap clap)
WE WANT FRESHMAN!
(Clap clap clap clap clap)
WE WANT FRESHMAN!"
We couldn't hold in our laughter backstage. Stage managers continuously told us to get quiet. Soon the time came, 4:45 hit and we knew that it was game time.
"ARE THERE ANY SENIORS IN THE HOUSE," Jen, the Design Senior Rep yelled. The Seniors bumrushed the stage stomping and yelling. We still couldn't see but we felt and heard the noise. Soon the noise died down and we began slowly trickling out of the steps.
"Oh...wait, we forgot the freshman," Jen continued. "...ARE THERE ANY FRESHMAN IN THE HOUSE!"
When that was said, all of us ran on stage, white t-shirts and jeans everywhere. We yelled we screamed right along with the Seniors in the audience. Some seniors even hopped on stage. One of them was one of the 6 Marathon boys, who were drunk. They came to the show in their robes and boxers.
Once we began performing, we often had to stop for the talking, screaming, laughing, jumping on stage and ranting of the Seniors. One guy, who was sitting in the front row, realized that part of the song was about him, hopped over the railing, yelling drunkily.
"FUCK YOU!"
But it was all in good fun because he was laughed jokingly. Aftwerwards, we performed the "Grand 'Ol Flag" song with the drama department dance, the set finale to all Opening Marathon performances. The Seniors performed it with us. When the show was done, we held our cards up and got scared as the the Seniors charged towards us. They pushed, shoved and yelled to find their LITTLE. It was like WAR! Finally, I found my 2 BIGS. They were both female and one of the girls was a girl that we talked about in the show. EEK! But, she said she didn't mind, it was a joke anyway.
My BIGS took me to the picnic that followe. As I ate with my BIGS friends and her LITTLES, Nneka and Kimi, I laughed as I watched one of the Marathon boys walking in the middle of the street, robe open, boxers showing. They had no shame.
Before the actual party started, Nneka, Kimi and my BIGS took us to our dorms to get some overnight things. We all knew we would be too drunk anyway. They took us to their apartment where they gave us alcohol, weed and brownies.(I just took the alcohol, lol). Before we made it to the Marathon house, which was right up the street we were all drunk. Our BIGS made our Marathon shirts. Mine read
"Sorry I was late to CORE
I was getting Wasted at 604
Property of Jes and Ween"
CORE is my acting class and 604 is the address of the apartment. When we made it to Marathon, everything went crazy from there. As soon as everyone showed up, it got hot and sweaty all over the place. People took off shirts and pants (including me). And seeing as though half of the party was full of gay men, they walked around in speedos and Police hats. Drinks were being sold by the second and the place was moist with sweat. I don't actually remember every guy I danced with but it was hectic. I was grided against walls, touched in appropriate places, lifted up in the air, had my legs wrapped around unfamiliar guys and gays and stood in the rain, letting my weave disintegrate. And you know what...I loved every minute of it!
By the time I left the party, I had been baricaded in the bathroom by one of the Marathon Boys, I had flashed my boobs to some gay guy who liked me, taken my shirt off, broke my sandals, danced with Mike, John, Troy, Some gay guy, Some gay black guy, some straight hot guy, squeezed in the middle of two sandwiches, been in the back of a sandwich, danced with Milly and some other chick, danced with Kimi, danced on a speaker, slipped on some water, seen like 16 penises at one time, been drenched in my sweat and the sweat of others, and grinded on basically EVERY DAMN THING in the house. And I only stayed there for 3 hours because my BIG was uber drunk.
When I got back to her apartment she looked at me, laughed and said.
"You basically just had SEX on the dance floor"
I smiled, too drunk to comprehend....and passed out on her couch.
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