The Haresfoot Club, started in 1899 as UW-Madison's first student theater group, thrived for 64 years under the motto, "All our girls are men, yet every one's a lady."

The troupe didn't have the budget to take females - who required chaperones - on the road, so the male cast donned gowns to play women's roles. While the gender-bending shtick became a trademark, the students' acting and writing were exceptional, inspiring the 1937 film "Varsity Show."