The Green Room

By Abby Synnes

On a September evening in 2017, two years before skyrocketing to stardom with her chart-topping hit “Truth Hurts,” rapper and singer Lizzo performed for an energetic crowd of University of Wisconsin–Madison students and community members in Memorial Union’s Shannon Hall. Fast forward to this year’s 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards, when Lizzo won the coveted award for Record of the Year and received nominations in four other categories.

Hosting an eventual GRAMMY winner like Lizzo as part of a Wisconsin Union event isn’t a one-hit-wonder. In fact, the 2022-23 Wisconsin Union Theater season, which is part of Wisconsin Union programming, includes bringing four GRAMMY Award nominees in jazz categories to the Shannon Hall stage: 23-year-old jazz singer Samara Joy, who swept her categories of Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album; internet sensations DOMi & JD Beck; singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Cory Henry; and jazz artist and composer Cécile McLorin Salvant.

However, these acclaimed artists didn’t decide to come to Madison, Wisconsin, by magic or by chance. Instead, a group of student superstars, known as the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee (PAC), helped program the events from start to finish. 

WUD PAC members work in tandem with the Wisconsin Union Theater team to bring a diverse lineup of performances to the Wisconsin Union. As a discipline, the performing arts includes a wide range of artistic expression; It is as much classical music as it is jazz or modern dance or comedy. As a group, the committee provides accessible space where students’ ideas are valued and implemented, culminating as the Theater season. WUD Performing Arts Committee members gain hands-on experience in each step of the programming process and work directly with the talented artists brought to campus.

If you’re a student interested in a leadership role with WUD PAC or know a student who would be interested, you’re in luck! Applications are now open for WUD PAC director for the 2023-24 school year.

The WUD PAC director works with the Wisconsin Union Theater director and staff to assist with contracts, booking, budgeting and general theater operations. They help plan, program and promote a season lineup that offers artistic integrity and campus outreach.

In addition to gaining valuable leadership skills, joining a close-knit community of performing arts lovers, and getting a backstage seat to incredible performances, the WUD PAC director also receives a 60% in-state tuition reimbursement to recognize their hard work. (Limitations apply. Visit the application page for details.)

All UW–Madison students are welcome and encouraged to apply, regardless of any prior involvement with the Wisconsin Union or any WUD committee and regardless of their major. Students interested in applying should check the list of mandatory attendance requirements and position responsibilities to make sure that the director role aligns with their schedules. If a director role isn’t quite right, no worries; current UW–Madison students can join as a committee member any time of the year. 

When joining WUD PAC as a member or director, students have a direct impact in bringing both emerging and world-famous artists to campus. WUD PAC students and Wisconsin Union Theater team members have a fantastic track record of contracting artists who are (or will become) internationally-known stars, so odds are pretty high that somewhere down the line, students will learn of them accepting a golden megaphone on the GRAMMY stage. Not only will students be able to say, “I knew them when…,” but they’ll also know that they played a crucial role in bringing them to the Wisconsin Union’s programming lineup.

All UW–Madison students with a passion for the performing arts are encouraged to join WUD PAC. Click here to learn more about the committee, and click here to apply for WUD PAC director.