A cappella singers prepare for weekend

Get ready for battle of the sexes, a cappella style, as the all-male Pennsylvania 6-5000 and the all-female Quaker Notes present their annual spring shows this weekend. For the members of Penn-6, this year marks a return to their roots. This name for the show, My Crab Has Girfriends, was taken from the Glenn Miller album of the same name. Penn-6 President Dan Ward, a College junior, explained that Miller, who graduated from the University, was one of the "founding fathers" of Penn-6. Several members of the nine-man a cappella group said this year they have been through intense training so that they will be in peak physical condition for the show. "Everyone in the group has had three times the recommended daily allowance of Riboflavin for the past three weeks so their voices are in top shape," College junior Peter Eliot, the group's nutritionist, said. And Music Director Jason Downey, a Wharton junior, added that while preparing for the show has been a healthy exercise, he hopes the show will leave the audience feeing healthier as well. "This show is filled with 12 essential vitamins and minerals as well as the Colonel's special blend of herbs and spices," Downey said. Following what has become a Penn-6 tradition, this year's performance will once again showcase the group's extensive dancing talents. "We've done some extensive training with the Joffrey Ballet in New York," Ward said. "They taught us to dance and we taught them to drink." College senior Rock "Scott Jerrold" Johnson said this year's group is "eight of the baddest dancing white dudes on campus." For Quaker Notes, this year's show, entitled Girlz II Women, is a ground-breaking one, in which, members said, the group will be exploring new musical styles and sounds. "We're revealing new and unexplored sides of Quaker Notes," Music Director Janice Kim, a Wharton sophomore, said. "A lot of this year's music has a totally new feel than what we've done in the past." In keeping with the revolutionary nature of this year's show, the group said that special guests, never before seen on the University campus, will be making appearances at the show. "Our guests include the Vienna Boys Choir, Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford," College sophomore Kathy O'Neill said. "There will be free Diet Pepsi for all." As an additional incentive for seeing the show, the group said that every hundredth ticket holder will receive a free fortune telling by a mystery member of the group. My Crab Has Girlfriends runs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium. Girlz II Women will run tomorrow night only at 8 p.m. in the Annenberg School Theater. Tickets for both shows are available on Locust Walk and at the door.

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