Somewhat different from these revivals of the best in dramatic literature, have been the far more popular Michigan Union Operas, written and produced almost entirely by students. Originally designed as a means for raising funds for the Union, always needed, particularly in the earliest days, they speedily became an institution in undergraduate life. All the librettos, with one or two exceptions, have been the work of students, and the same is true of the music, which has often developed an extraordinary vein of undergraduate talent. In fact, more than once it has been the music which has given these operas their chief merit. Save for one war-time emergency, when University women participated, the entire cast has always been recruited from the men of the University and the burlesque of the "chorus girls" has always been one of the perennial charms of the opera in undergraduate estimation. The first opera, given in 1908, was entitled _Michigenda_ and became instantly popular, not only because of its novelty and the excellence of its music, but also because its plot was built about the local color of undergraduate life, a precedent which, unfortunately, has not always been followed in later operas. The 1920 opera, _George Did It_, was artistically as well as financially the most successful of the Union's productions. Five or six performances are usually given in Ann Arbor, and of late years a trip during the spring vacation through the cities of Michigan and occasionally to Chicago has drawn large audiences of alumni and others, attracted by the real merit and novelty of this student effort. Not to be outdone by the men of the University, the junior class women have also, for some years, presented a similar extravaganza which, though not open to the general public, is always noted for its cleverness and real humor. For some twelve years also a feature of the Commencement program has been the annual play given by the senior girls, usually on Tuesday evening of Commencement Week. The list of plays presented includes, _She Stoops to Conquer_, (1905); _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_, (1906); _Cranford_, (1908); Euripides' _Alcestis_, (1912), in which the classical entrance to Alumni Memorial Hall was used most effectively; _Prunella_, (1914); _The Piper_, (1916); and in 1919, Percy McKaye's _A Thousand Years Ago_. Within recent years, "Masques," an organization of University women, has given unusually artistic performances of Pinero's _The Amazons_, (1918), and Barrie's _Quality Street_, (1919). The Department of Oratory has also interested itself in the drama and is responsible for several well-considered presentations of such plays as Galsworthy's _Silver Box_; Kennedy's _The Servant in the House_, (1916); Ibsen's _Pillars of Society_, (1917); and Masefield's _Tragedy of Nan_, (1918).