Rachel Dratch ’88 Talks Improv, College Days, and Dartmouth Idol

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The alumna returned to her alma mater to host Idol, which marked its 10th anniversary.

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Rachel Dratch on stage with one of the Dartmouth Idol finalists
Rachel Dratch ’88, who returned to Dartmouth on March 3 to host the 10th anniversary show of Dartmouth Idol, shares the stage with Trevor Knight ’17, one of the finalists. (Photo by Rob Strong ’04)
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Read the full story by Kristin Maffei, published by Dartmouth Alumni Relations.

Dartmouth Idol celebrated its 10th birthday this year, and founding director Walt Cunningham pulled out all the stops for the finals. The evening featured a celebrity host: comedian Rachel Dratch ’88, of Saturday Night Live fame. Dartmouth Alumni Relations caught up with Dratch to learn more about her time at Dartmouth and what she was most looking forward to about the March 3 show.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Dartmouth?

Dratch: My favorite memory that jumps to mind is the improv group that I got to join my sophomore year. It was called Said and Done back then. It was with this group that I felt truly comfortable at Dartmouth—like I had found my people.

We would perform at Collis and sort of learn as we went. We weren’t trying to put on the perfect show, but I dare say we were pretty good, rough edges and all! Later when I went on to study improv in Chicago I would learn the biggest thing to conquer is your fear—you have to enter a scene confident that you will find the game of it. And when we were just messing around in the improv group at Dartmouth, for whatever reason we didn’t have the fear!

Other fond memories were my sophomore summer, LSA (Language Study Abroad) France (I still keep in touch with my French family though I can barely speak the language!) Summer Rep—the theater program I did, which I’m not sure they still do.

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