The tragic love story of a Capulet and a Montague was brought into the world of “dormies” and sorority women in “Ray and Julie: A West Campus Story.”

The skit, performed at Varieties, featured Ray, a “dormy” who falls in love with Julie. The problem arises when he realizes she belongs to “the enemy” – a sorority.

The clash of dormitory-dwellers and greeks was mirrored in the number of contestants in the Varieties contest, as the skit’s cast included mainly residents of Barker House in Lyon Hall, a group of residence hall students entering a traditionally greek event.

Varieties is generally greek-dominated, said Carmen Ickes, Varieties Central Committee recruiter.

“We’re really trying to get this so it’s not limited to greeks,” said Ickes, senior in Spanish. “There are seven greek-oriented events and one residence hall.”

Pat Feller, who played Ray, said he thinks more advertising in the dorms would help increase involvement in Varieties.

“Not very many people actually know about it,” said Feller, sophomore in hotel, restaurant and institutional management.

“I think it’s harder for the residence halls to participate in it because the cost of building the set is high.”

Erin Mills, who played Julie, said Barker House residents have been working on the script since October.

“[The groups] write and direct the skits themselves, get the bands themselves and rewrite the words to existing music,” said Ellie Nelson, Varieties producer.

Nelson, senior in anthropology, said the greek organizations fund themselves, while the Barker House cast had to find other ways to fund their show.

This year, funding came from the Inter-Residence Hall Association, which provided $500 to the group, said Mills, sophomore in graphic design.

“Our funding from IRHA was a big deal because we have a really small budget,” she said.

The group previously has been funded through RCA, but it didn’t get the bill in on time this year, Mills said.

“Almost all of the money goes to the set,” she said. “Paint and canvas are so expensive.”

Costumes, on the other hand, were inexpensive, since a resident of the house made them, Mills said.

Close-knit cast

The best part of being part of the production, at least for Feller, was the feeling of being on stage.

“I love getting up and entertaining people,” he said. “You almost control what they’re feeling by how you are acting.”

One of the reasons Barker House is involved in Varieties is because residents of the house are so close, Feller said.

“We all hang out together, we all eat together, so it makes it that much easier to organize,” he said.

Almost everybody in Barker House helped out with the skit at one time or another, Feller said.

“Our numbers [of participants] were up this year, which was really encouraging,” Mills said.

Besides the possibility of winning the sweepstakes, she said there are also awards given out for categories, such as best band, best costumes and best supporting actress.

Everything comes together

“Ray and Julie” was part of the first group of skits performed at Saturday’s round of second cuts. This Saturday, as well as Feb. 9, two other rounds will be held.

Winners of the sweepstakes round are also announced Feb. 9, and those pieces go head-to-head Feb. 22 and 23. First cuts were made in November.

“We’ve been working on [our skit] really hard since right before Christmas break,” Mills said. “It’s really interesting because at the beginning [you think] this is going to be so hard.”

Stress sometimes breeds bad attitudes as the practices progress, she said.

“Time is a huge investment, especially on a small floor. My attitude was really bad in the middle,” Mills said. “But then everything comes together in the end.”