Out of all the Musical Theatre Club shows in the past four years, the one performed from Nov. 16-18 was possibly the best.
The Musical Theater Club started this year with new officers, and they really raised the bar in their performance. This year MTC tried a few new concepts as well as maintaining traditions. The show was funny, had a great variety, and tried some new things, which made the audience take notice.
While in past years the first number of the show has almost always been a very upbeat musical number, this year the show opened with the "Overture" from Phantom of the Opera. It was extremely well done, with all the dancers in belted white coats that looked like straightjackets. The dance was jerky and disoriented, reflecting the feeling of the song. One member of the cast ran around as a terrified nurse who tried to quell the mood of madness with the beginning of the musical piece that usually follows the "Overture."
From there the show continued with its more traditional musical numbers. Some of the funniest included "The Telephone Hour" from Bye Bye Birdie, which turned into a song about a phone sex hotline, and a combination of "Defying Gravity," from the musical Wicked and another song. The men of MTC invaded the women's final number of the first act as they attempted to blast off into outer space.
Another memorable number was "One by One" from The Lion King. Instead of having the dancers and the singers together, the singers stood out in the audience while the dancers performed up on the stage. These three numbers were all different from past years, and exceptionally interesting to watch.
The skits were funny, as usual, but most of them made fun of Super Wal-Mart, and didn't stick with the shows theme of "Where in the World is MTC?" That was the only aspect of the show that didn't fit well. Without the skits tying into the theme, you one had to wonder why it was called "Where in the World is MTC?" and not just "The MTC Fall Revue." However, those skits that did fit with the theme were usually less amusing than those that didn't.
Another item that was new this year was a seasonal song to kick off the holidays. The entire cast broke out into "Turkey Lurkey Time," very appropriate for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It will be interesting to see if a seasonal song is going to be included in shows from now on.
The new officers of MTC put their necks out to try something a little different this year, and they succeeded. The Fall show was certainly an entertaining one, and it will be interesting to see how the Spring show turns out.