Minorities in the Arts: The Review
Off-Off Campus, the country’s oldest collegiate improv and sketch comedy group, usually boasts a packed show. On the night of November 15th, the crowd was off the charts—even by their measure. By 7:00 PM, there was already a line outside the Revival Theater, where Off-Off presented Minorities in the Arts: The Musical. By 7:15, the show was sold out. Campus was abuzz with excitement for the 33rd Generation’s musical comedy, and judging by the length of the line, expectations were high.
The show started in an unassuming way. Six students sit in a classroom, accompanied by their guidance counselor, Ms. Squiggles (Liva Pierce). Though it’s obvious from the start that we’re looking at a group of oddball seniors, we don’t know just how bizarre they are until the plot line begins to unfold. Over the loudspeaker, Principal Mommy (voiced by Zavior Phillips/Andrew Olmstead) begins his morning announcements by monologuing about the fact that his last name is, in fact, Mommy. But then, bad news strikes: because of budget cuts, there will only be five letters of recommendation given out to the senior class. To figure out who will receive the letters, these six high school seniors have to compete in a talent show.
At the news, the characters break out into their first musical number: The Letter. Through this delightfully rhythmic opening number and the following dialogue, we begin to learn more about the characters. Dawn F. Kennedy (Anne Lim) is destined for Yale, Topaz Lee Miller (Sofia Nam) is half-penguin, Blade Wrunner (Alex Rosencrance) has serious daddy issues, Leo Sagittarius (Joelle Blankson) is secretly a teenage spy, Jazz Z. Hands (Joey Cipriano) is a musical theater geek, and Peter Sampson (AJ Kinstlick) is a champion squash player. Most importantly, none of them have any idea what they’re going to do for the talent show. Janitor Wishbone (Bradley Goldsmith) goes around the school trying to support the students, but most of his energy is spent pining after Ms. Squiggles.
Off-Off Campus’ 33rd Generation: Alex Rosencrance, Liva Pierce, Bradley Goldsmith, Joelle Blankson, AJ Kinstlick, Anne Lim, Sofia Nam, Joey Cipriano (from left to right); via https://offoffcampus.org/
We slowly learn that what’s more important than beating their classmates in the show is the friendships they form along the way. This is, of course, an excruciatingly cheesy message, and the script is filled with purposeful jabs at itself the whole way through. Despite the inherently self-deprecating nature of the show, the music is still engaging and surprisingly good—well, actually, rather unsurprisingly: the music and lyrics were written with the help of Greer Baxter, a member of Off-Off’s 31st generation and a Grammy Award-winning producer and singer. Though the quality of the music was expected, the execution is still potently funny, impressive, and all-around fantastic.
The hour-long musical is full of twists and turns, character bonding scenes, and a budding romance. It would be difficult to mention every hilarious moment in detail, but the two most notable ones are worth describing.
All the characters feel pretty helpless when it comes to competing in the musical, but Peter Sampson feels particularly so. As a champion squash player, he seemse to have no other talents. We see him attempting to play the piano (and epically failing), until Janitor Wishbone comes onto the scene and outs himself as a genie. He pretends to grant Peter his wish of being able to play the piano, but as it turns out, he didn’t grant him the wish at all, but instead instilled in Peter a sense of self-confidence.
Another fantastic scene in the show occurs in a Left High School bathroom. Topaz and Dawn are getting ready for the big show and begin to discover that their lives have a lot of similarities. They both carry around a piece of egg shell in their back pockets; they’re both half-penguin, half-human; and Topaz has a single dad, while Dawn has a single mom. In fact, they’re twins that were separated at birth! This delightful Parent Trap moment is one of the pinnacles of the show. From mentions of how the penguin gene is recessive, to the hilarious seriousness with which Topaz and Dawn smear red lipstick and eyeliner all of their faces in an attempt to get ready, the scene sent the crowd into continuous bouts of laughter.
Before the talent show begins, Principal Mommy announces that there is in fact only one recommendation letter for the entire class—only the winner gets it. In response, the students, Ms. Squiggles, and Janitor Wishbone revolt, belting the fantastic Recommendation Revolution. The future looks grim for the seniors at Left High School, but Janitor Wishbone—who, as we know, is a genie—saves the day. He turns Left High School into Left College, giving everyone a shot at a college degree.
Minorities in the Arts: The Musical is a fantastic show. It mixes catchy, clever music with the hilarious wit that Off-Off so masterfully embodies, to create a piece that left me excited more than ever for their next performance. Here’s to hoping that this isn’t the last musical comedy we see from them!
