February is a good month for music at Georgetown — there’s Cherry Tree Massacre, the Fight Song is heard in constant refrain during Big East basketball and, of course, Georgetown Cabaret. Each year, a collection of student musicians treat the campus to a showcase of cover songs and top-notch showmanship at what has become a cherished Georgetown tradition to those who have experienced it.

Cabaret goes up next week. The show features covers of popular songs of all styles, from hip-hop and R&B to classic rock and ’90s alternative. “We’re very intent about getting it [to be] diverse,” said guitarist Teddy Svoronos (SFS ’08).

The Cabaret band is composed of 10 singers and 10 musicians — all Georgetown undergrads. “The show is usually run by seniors in the band, who have done Cabaret before and are responsible for most logistics,” Svoronos said. “We all get together to figure out which songs will be sung, as each singer does two songs, and the band plays a few on their own.”

All the band members go through a rigorous audition process. Some, like saxophonist Brittany Sonnichsen (COL ’08), get involved through other campus music programs like the GU Jazz Band. Singers often come from Georgetown’s various a cappella groups. “The a cappella kids love the chance to play with a band,” Sonnichsen said.

Sometimes the Cabaret members will go after musicians they want in the band. “We recruited [Teddy] because we knew he was badass,” Sonnichsen said.

Once the band is formed, practice gets intense. Band members spend weeks going over their songs, learning to play them in perfect mimicry of the original recording, then figuring out how to adapt them for a live performance.

“By the end, this room you’ve been spending 12 hours a day in, you’re very attached to it, but it also kind of smells,” Svoronos said.

But the trying process also forges strong bonds among band members. “No one in my four years has quit,” Sonnichsen recalled.

2008 marks the 33rd year of the program. The hit ’90s band Vertical Horizon was formed out of a Cabaret band. Because Cabaret is entirely student-run, the band members often find themselves overwhelmed by the planning and preparation. “It takes over your life a bit,” Sonnichsen said. “These two months are so different from the rest of the year.”

But lately, Cabaret has found some support from outside the student body. “The community has really developed a lot recently, and they’re eager to get involved,” said Svoronos. The Senior Class Committee has provided bus service to the show for the past two years, and the DC Schools Project helps to organize some of the logistics. In return, all the proceeds from the show are donated to the DC Schools Project.

The band is eager to promote the show but finds it difficult to explain its strange mix of musical stylings. “You simply have to see it for yourself,” Sonnichsen said. “I’ve never met anyone who’s been to the show and hasn’t liked it.”

One unique hurdle this year is the confusion over the title. Mask & Bauble is staging a musical production of “Cabaret,” the play, which has led to some challenges in promoting the show. “It’s been a marketing nightmare,” Svoronos said. “We’ve had to put ‘ROCK SHOW’ on all the posters so people know the difference.”

To promote the upcoming show, Cabaret offered a preview performance at Leo’s on Wednesday. The band played a little less than half their set in front of a receptive dinner crowd. Students stayed long after they’d finished their meals to hear the end of the set. Leo’s workers were even coming in from the kitchens to listen and snap a few photos on camera phones.

The preview was worth it, not only to hype the show, but also to deal with some technical issues. “Our PA broke down 20 minutes before the show,” Svoronos remembered. “Luckily, we found these speakers lying around, and we plugged everything into that.” The preview show featured a typical Cabaret mix, from No Doubt to Beyoncé. What else is in store for the big show? You’ll just have buy a ticket.

“We’re pretty secretive about the set list,” Svoronos said. “Half the fun is hearing something you don’t expect.”

Georgetown Cabaret performs live at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Va., on Thursday, Feb. 21. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show starts at 9. Free bus service will run to the theater from McDonough Gymnasium. Tickets are being sold in Red Square all week for $15 and $12 for Georgetown seniors.