On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Musical Theatre Club premiered its annual fall show entitled "MTC: The Musical," featuring Geneseo's hottest performing arts talent.
Group members, as well as an orchestral pit, showed off their skills in a revue of 23 different musical numbers from various Broadway shows.
The "musical" opened up with spoof, "MTCia," performed by the group's officers who creatively sang to the audience about the locations of the exits and reminded them to shut off their cell phones. Their cheerful and humorous skit set the tone for the numerous acts that followed.
The first number was a full-cast performance to the title song of "Happy Days: The Musical," which also served to set an upbeat atmosphere for the rest of the evening.
Next was an entertaining parody of the song "Hard Knock Life" from "Annie." Rather than singing about the difficult lives of orphans as per the song's original lyrics, they sang about the difficult lives of being nerds in college. The scene featured MTC vice president and junior Chris Blasting as the "main misfit" exclaiming that he was "tired of being a nerd."
One of the crowd favorites of the night was the song called "Lily's Eyes" from the musical version of The Secret Garden. The song was modified to the story line of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and featured professors Snape and Lupin singing about Harry's mother Lily. Aside from the masterful vocals, the skillful adaptation of the song was the main attraction in the skit.
While many of the upperclassmen were featured in the bulk of the scenes, there were a few reserved just for first-time members of MTC. All of the latest recruits were showcased in one number based on Hairspray's "Nicest Kids in Town," the title of which was appropriately changed to "Newest Kids in Town." The number was very upbeat and flaunted the energy of the new MTC talent.
Senior Norma Butikofer, along with many other cast members, embraced her inner zombie in the song "Necronomicon/It's Time" from "Evil Dead: The Musical." Aside from its vague creepiness, it was entertaining to see how versatile the students were, transforming from cheerful teenyboppers in one scene to flesh-eating zombies in the next.
The number was made even more humorous when senior Danny Carroll, upon hearing about the "rise of the undead," announced that the MTC boys, "Knew this day would come."
In the second act of the show, the MTC members brilliantly performed "Grasslands Chant" from "The Lion King," "Voulez-Vous" from "Mamma Mia," and "Dancin'" from "Xanadu."
In addition to the meticulously choreographed numbers, some of the actors provided additional entertainment between skits. Freshman Devon Borowski and juniors Lucas Groth and Michael Radi taught the audience about the "art of acting" by pretending to be British acting connoisseurs. They discussed the three "real" principles of acting: "Acting like you are singing … acting like you are dancing … and acting like you are acting."
The crowds that "MTC: The Musical" attracted reflected the popularity of the group itself. All three shows brought in audiences that filled the Alice Austin Theater, and fans look forward to MTC's spring revue.