The History of Big Game Gaieties

If you think that the name ‘Gaieties’ is strange, would you prefer the ‘Football Follies’? Probably not. That sounds like a Sports Illustrated video. Or even worse – a Cal-Berkeley production.

The sad truth is that, in the mid-morning of Stanford history, this was the name of Ram’s Head Theatrical Society’s big musical-play-rally-extravaganza, performed the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the Big Game. Don’t blame them, though. By the time they took over the project, it had emerged as ’Big Game Gaieties’.

What is now Gaieties was introduced in 1911 as, yes, the ‘Football Follies,’ as a rally for the Stanford-Cal rugby game. That’s right, rugby. Put on by various organizations over the years, it was eventually taken over by Ram’s Head. A completely student-run theatrical society, Ram’s Head also produces the Original Winter One-Acts and the Spring Musical every year.

The name Football Follies was changed to Gaieties sometime in the ’20s. And no, the name does not mean anything other than ‘frivolity and fun,’ your typical dictionary meaning.

Gaieties has been produced every fall since 1911, except for a brief hiatus in the mid-’70s when Ram’s Head closed its doors. 

Gaieties has been student-written, with the script and format changing each year. The plot is always a heavily guarded secret – indeed, whether or not it has a plot is sometimes the main question.

The show lives and dies on its energy; the traditional audition motto is ‘Enthusiasm, not talent!’ It aims at an irreverent, silly and sometimes ‘smart-assy’ look at Big Game, Cal and Stanford life itself. Each year, writers and producers try to out-do past shows by incorporating as many of the craziest in-jokes, traditions, spoofs and gags that they can.

Gaieties will certainly live up to its tradition of wackiness once again this year. And although the competition on the gridiron might be intense, we can be sure that Cal has nothing to compare to our very own ‘Big Game Gaieties.’

Beat Cal.

[text via]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *