This tradition began as a musical revue, showcasing several different student-written Northwestern-inspired vignettes connected by one single theme.

[3][4] The WAA had been staging popular all-female musical comedies since 1912; the MU had presented less successful all-male comic operas for a number of years prior to 1929.

[4] At first, the female WAA committee was reluctant about sharing the stage with the male Mu members, but they eventually agreed to combine talents.

In 1931 Northwestern president Walter Dill Scott offered Miller a position on the university's staff as Freshman Advisor and Waa-Mu Director.

Instead, they staged George Gershwin's musical Of Thee I Sing, about a presidential candidate who promises to bring more love to the White House.

Waa-Mu performances have been presented at Cahn Auditorium since its 1941 production, Wait A Minute, premiering on the new stage the same year that Scott Hall was completed.

Several different positions and sub-groups with distinct responsibilities exist within the institution to ease the process of creating an original musical each year.

They include: Program Head: A staff member of the Theatre & Interpretation Center who leads the creation process and makes all final decisions.

Co-Chairs: The student leaders of the organization who work alongside the Program Head to make decisions about creative and administrative matters.

Writing Coordinators: The student leaders who are in charge of generating and combining material to form a cohesive script for the show.

On March 13, 2020, the co-chairs decided to cancel the final reading of the show before it was set to go into rehearsal later that month due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

[6][7][8] The 2019 production followed a female Chicago journalist embarking on a project to create obituaries for history’s most incredible women, including mathematician and cryptanalyst Gene Grabeel, French swordswoman and opera singer Julie d’Aubigny, and early civil rights leader Ida B.

[11] The performance in 2013 entitled, Flying Home, combined the ideas of three very well known productions, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz.