In 1973, a pair of satire-minded undergraduates yearned for an alternative to the Waa-Mu Show, Northwestern’s longstanding musical theater showcase. Junior Josh Lazar and sophomore Paul Warshauer put a finger into the establishment eye by mounting an eclectic creation named, with winking irreverence, “the Mee-Ow Show.”

Half a century later, Mee-Ow is an annual fixture, known for its mix of comedic skits, improv, and house bands. Comedy luminaries such as Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Seth Meyers, and Kristen Schaal headlined in Mee-Ow, and many cast members have gone on to venues such as The Second City, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, The Groundlings, and “Whose Line is it Anyway?”

All these legends from such humble roots? Ya gotta be kitten me.

This exhibit was curated by Yvonne Spura. Special thanks to Kevin Leonard, Drew Scott, and Paul Warshauer.

This exhibit would not have been possible without the Northwestern Libraries Preservation team: Susan Russick, Laura Berenger, Nicole Dobrowolski, Jess Ortegon, Lindsey Williams; the Repository and Digital Curation team: Nicole Finzer, Curt Bozif, Brianna Jacobi,  and Liz Weinstein; and the Marketing and Communications team: Liz Cassidy and Cory Slowik.

Thank you to the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives for their collection stewardship and for the use of materials from the Records of the Mee-Ow Show and the Dana Olsen Papers for this exhibit. Thank you to Mee-Ow cast and crew past and present who have donated materials to the Records of the Mee-Ow Show, and to Paul Barrosee and Michael Lynn for their loans to the exhibition.

Northwestern University Libraries is dedicated to the fair and ethical preservation, digitization, curation, and use of its collections. This exhibit is made available to the public under Fair Use (Section 107 of the Copyright Act) for learning and teaching purposes, as well as to promote the mission and activities of Northwestern University Libraries (ARL Code of Best Practices in Fair Use). Northwestern University Libraries does not claim the copyright of any materials in this collection. If you are the copyright holder of any item(s) in this collection or have questions, comments or concerns about this exhibit, please contact us via email at library@northwestern.edu.