On Feb. 15, Melica hosted their annual charity event, Girls Night Out, in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center. The show featured performances from Melica, Emotion, Theatre, Mad Cow Improv and the Elizabethtown College Dance Team (ECDT).

“We invite girls from all the performing groups to come and perform with us, and all of the money that we raise from the event gets donated to a local women’s shelter in Lancaster,” Melica president Brooke Seislove said.

The event raised $700 for Clare House, a women’s shelter in Lancaster. Clare House is a transitional housing program for women and children facing homelessness. The employment-focused program provides women with the safety, housing and supportive services they need to pursue financial stability.

Another aspect of the Girls Night Out event is the focus on female empowerment. One of the groups that appreciated this opportunity the most was Mad Cow Improv.

“We don’t normally have a ton of women in the group,” Mad Cow secretary Alexa Scheetz said. “It’s usually slightly male-dominated, so it’s exciting to get some time to perform just us.”

Regardless of their reasoning for coming out, the audience was treated to a show with all the wonderful performances. The night started with two song performances by Melica: “Save Your Tears” and their classic “Wings.” This was followed by a dance performance by some of the members of Emotion. Six members of the Theatre Department then took the stage to perform “Ex-Wives” from “Six the Musical.” The ECDT rounded out the first half of the show.

Merch from some of the groups was sold prior to the show starting, and these sales continued during the intermission while the audience anticipated the second half of the show.

After the intermission, Emotion took the stage again to perform a dance set to a medley of Pussycat Dolls songs. The girls of Mad Cow came out next to perform two games for the audience. The ECDT followed this performance with another dance, and Melica finished off the night with two more songs: “Telephone” and “Everybody Talks.”

Many of the groups that performed during the Girls Night Out event have other performances this semester. On March 23, the ECDT will be hosting their annual charity showcase, One Elle of a Night. The Theatre Department will be putting on their spring mainstage performance, “Rhinoceros,” starting March 23. Emotion will hold their spring showcase Apr. 28 and 29.