On the nights of Nov. 15, 16 and 17, Geneseo's Musical Theatre Club hosted their annual free revue show in the Alice Austin Theatre.
This year's revue was entitled, "MTC: Do You Have It?" and included, as usual, songs from popular Broadway shows. MTC performed for packed audiences of Geneseo students, faculty, and community members all three evenings, each night bringing new levels of entertainment to the crowds.
One of the early numbers in the first act was the song, "Pop!" from the 1998 film The Wedding Singer. The number was directed by junior Amanda Cotrupi and featured several female members of MTC singing about the excitement of wedding proposals. The segment was upbeat and lively and helped to bring a fun and entertaining atmosphere to the show.
Another memorable song was "The Jet Song" from the classic musical, West Side Story. MTC had its newest members perform this piece, with certain lyrics changed to reflect the importance of their "initiation" into the club. Overall, "The Jet Song" was very amusing, and did a great job of introducing and showcasing the talents of the most recent members of MTC.
One of the last songs of the first act was "Hail Holy Queen" from 1993's Sister Act II: Back in the Habit (directed by senior Julie Thiry and junior Sarah Rychlik). It featured female members of MTC singing the traditional Christian hymn but with a not-so-traditional twist. As the song progressed, the gesticulations of their conductor (sophomore Leora Bernstein) became wilder and wilder, until the "nuns" united in a soulful performance complete with upbeat dancing and clapping that thoroughly impressed the audience. Act One finished with the song, "We're All in This Together" from the popular Disney production, High School Musical. The cast performed superbly, and their costumes (representing cliché high school social groups including jocks, preps and geeks) were also quite impressive.
The second act of the MTC revue was just as strong as the first, opening with "Step In Time" from Mary Poppins (directed by junior Chas Hannum and sophomore Mike Radi). The number began as MTC entered wearing their official club shirts. The choreography for "Step In Time" was fantastic and featured the club members dancing together in lines as well as forming intricate circular patterns, all of which amazed the enthusiastic audience.
One of the last numbers in Act Two was the unforgettable song, "Greased Lightning," (directed by Hannum) from the acclaimed musical, Grease. As with "The Jet Song," the situation of "Greased Lightning" was changed to reflect an event occurring in MTC. The female members stood on stage as junior Norma Butikofer entered to announce that she had just purchased a used car that the girls could fix up to even be "greased lightning!" At these words, the ladies broke into an impressive performance of the number, again excellently choreographed as were so many other segments of the revue.
In between the songs, certain club members performed small, amusing skits parodying life as a musical theatre major, events on the campus, and even MTC itself. These changed slightly each night, giving returning audiences something new to look forward to at every performance.
This year's MTC annual revue was a major success, attracting massive crowds during its three-day run. More information about MTC and its events can be found at http://geneseo.edu/~mtc/.