With commentary on sex, Butler, and Lit Hum, the 118th Varsity Show will be partially unveiled at tonight’s West End Preview.
At 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., the cast will perform a three-song sampler at Havana Central (2911 Broadway, between 113th & 114th streets) for $3 at the door.
“It’s well-observed, small, recognizable moments from daily life and a couple of familiar locations made fun of,” director Alex Hare, CC ’13, said. These moments are meant to give a taste of the show and introduce the cast to the Columbia public. “We wanted to put some of our funny jokes that aren’t related to the plot directly,” writer John Goodwin, CC ’12, said. “This is really going to showcase our singers and our talent.”
For talent, watch out for the cute yet terrifying facial expressions of ensemble member Kaylin Mahoney, CC ’15, in opening number “Occupy Butler,” as well as the unified mayhem of marching studiers. In its Monday night run-through, the cast was dressed down but amped up as it preached Butler 209 fervor to the one percent.
The second scene switched from Butler to Koronet at 2 a.m. and from music to dialogue, where Allie Carieri, CC ’15 and Arts & Entertainment associate, cried while hashtagging her sorrows and warding off nerdy pickup lines.
“They’re a really charismatic group and work so well together,” writer Jeff Stern, CC ’12, said about the cast, who spent breaks between scene chatting and cracking jokes. The band, on the other hand, was too engrossed in the music to join in.
Although it consists of just four people—a keyboardist, cellist, drummer, and saxophone player doubling as a clarinetist—the preview band has a full jazzy sound. For best sound balance, don’t stand too close.
The final musical number best showcases the voices of the cast with a harmonized rendition of a tune all-too-familiar to Columbians. As the final notes rang out, composer/lyricist Solomon Hoffman, CC ’14, knocked his sheet music to the ground with excitement.
“This is one of those things that break up that long spell,” Goodwin said. “The hibernation,” Stern added.
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy