Name games, convocation robe pickup, casino night, Pirates of the Caribbean, vomiting in a bush, a comedian and the “Hoya” photo. “What hasn’t NSO given me?” asks Sarah Sexton (MSB ‘07). “Noxious Crabs?” guesses Josh Demby (MSB ‘07). Sexton clarifies, “Everything… except what the f-k I’m going to do at Georgetown!” Cue O Show, the annual open house show put on by Georgetown’s theater groups.
Rather than free pizza and a PowerPoint show, the clubs, led by Mask & Bauble, put on an hour-long spectacle of singing, dancing and general debauchery, in what cast-member Brian St. Clair (SFS ‘07) described as “Girls Gone Wild with artistic sensibility.”
Considering that they had minimal props, a student-written script and only a few days of rehearsal, the theatre groups put on a fine performance. O Show opened with Demby and Sexton as first-year students. Demby explained NSO to Sexton, saying, “We need to pretend to like each other ‘til classes start!” The show excelled with similar humor, moving on to jokes about everything from New Jersey to George Washington University. It also helped that talented actors delivered the jokes with the energy of coked-up aerobics instructors. Demby was consistently the funniest actor, especially when playing his overzealous first-year character.
A plug for Midnight Theater, no-budget mini-shows put on at midnight after a main-stage show, was both more pointed and much funnier. It was, in fact, the highpoint of M&B’s section of the show, with John Dzundza (CAS ‘06) as an obnoxious University President John J. DeGioia. Dzundza isn’t afraid to throw a punch or two, and his DeGioia impersonation was spot-on.
Christine Ciocca (CAS ‘05) led a fabulous cabaret show previewing the M&B’s upcoming season. The year begins with Aunt Dan and Lemon by Wallace Shawn of The Princess Bride fame. Also included in the season is The Love of the Nightingale, Cloud 9, Sondheim’s Assassins and the student-written Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival.
Where M&B ran long-winded explanations of the company’s history and introductions of members, Nomadic was refreshingly brief, providing only explanations of spring shows. Will Mitchell (CAS ‘05), a contributing editor of The Georgetown Voice stole the show as Eliza Dolittle, the star of Nomadic’s first show, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Nomadic’s last show will be Summertime, an eccentric and unapologetic play about love. The company didn’t mind poking fun at the fact that they still haven’t chosen their third show, although it should be announced soon.
The Georgetown Players’ skit was not as successful. Relying mainly on cheap jabs at first-years wandering aimlessly to find parties, the scenes dragged and the jokes fell short. This performance was unfortunate and unusual, considering that the Georgetown Players, which puts on children’s theater productions and runs an improvisational comedy troupe, offers a bold and normally excellent alternative to the more traditional theater of the other companies. The Players’ two children’s shows, The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, count as community service.
The Black Theater Ensemble, which will present on A Few Good Men this winter, went nearly unmentioned.
