“One hit wonder.”

“Totally awesome!”

“Aren’t they those guys that look like girls?”

Student reactions are varied when they hear that Hanson, the famed ’90s pop band, will make an appearance at the Hoff Theater on Oct. 25, for a free screening of their self-produced documentary Strong Enough to Break.

Hanson, best known for their smash single “MmmBop” – of which nearly any student, when asked, will likely know and sing the entire chorus – approached Student Entertainment Events last Spring, said SEE President Gretchen Dellinger.

The band asked if the university was interested in being part of its college tour, which coincides with its concert tour promoting its newest CD, The Best of Hanson Live and Electric.

SEE Public Relations Director Katie Minkoff said SEE found through surveys and research many students expressed interest in seeing the group.

Sophomore Laura Strother, an avid Hanson fan since the age of 10, is ecstatic about the idea of meeting the band she fell in love with back in middle school.

“Hanson reminds me of sixth grade and worrying about whether the boy I liked was going to be at the dance on a Friday night,” Strother, a letters and sciences major, said.

Some students, however, like junior government and politics major Sarah Williams, were sure they were “guilty” of being Hanson fans years ago, but would have no desire to see them now, even for reasons of nostalgia.

Others are surprised to learn the group still exists, let alone that it will be on the campus.

“Wasn’t their career over like, ten years ago?” said senior English and philosophy major Kelley Singer.

Some said they didn’t think Hanson would be a very big draw for students and are doubtful that people would want to go.

Dellinger is optimistic that the Hoff will fill every one of its 550 seats.

“There was a huge underground buzz about this event,” Dellinger said. “We had people asking us about it before it was even announced.”

Admitting she almost cried when she saw the Hanson documentary trailer, Strother refuses to be bothered by people who mock the brothers for being “washed out.”

“In middle school, the kids circulated ‘anti-Hanson’ petitions, and I signed them because I wanted to be cool,” she said. “But I don’t really care what other people say. I have no shame now.”

The documentary profiles the band of three brothers and their struggle in the music industry, which drove them to leave their major record label and start their own.

Doors for the event open at 9 p.m. There will be a question and answer session following the documentary, as well as time for autographs.

A raffle will also be held, with the grand prize winner receiving two tickets and meet-and-greet passes to Hanson’s performance at the 9:30 Club in Washington on Oct. 30.

Contact reporter Emily Yahr at yahrdbk@gmail.com.