The Monroe Street Journal

Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Kent Westlund

On Friday, February 8, 2008, Ross Follies presented two performances of "Because it's Business School" to a total of about 700 students, faculty, staff, friends and family members at the Michigan Theater. This year's performances marked the 22nd anniversary of a tradition of infusing levity into an otherwise serious academic atmosphere. Director Christian Santiago and Producer Christopher Wilson conceived the theme of the show "Because it's Business School" in the Ross cafeteria. Santiago admitted, "[We] didn't want to come up with anything contrived or forced. 'Because it's Business School' kind of just came out." Wilson similarly commented, "It's the answer to all your questions about the crazy things that you do on a daily basis-'Because it's Business School'." As a high-performing team, the vision of the director and producer converged over several months into one of the show's sketches-"The Flight of Wiltiago."

The Follies Executive Board began planning this year's performances at the beginning of the school year, and they were primarily led by enthusiastic MBA2's who participated in last year's Follies performances. After conducting interviews for the remaining spots on the Follies Executive Board, the following students began the planning of Follies 2008 last October: Christian Santiago, Christopher Wilson, Jessica Friedman, Chaumanix Dutton, Jacqueline Hurley, Jennifer Andersen, Beata Canby, Dan Fallon, Max Yustis, LeTisha Shaw, Brian Hall, Christopher Clayson, Matt Schaar, Alden McLellan, and Elizabeth K B Smith. After weekly writing sessions at Scorekeepers, Ross Follies held auditions for actors, singers, and dancers in November. Over 120 students, faculty, Ross partners, and family members participated in the performances. Immediately following the performances, the Follies Executive Board held an open cast party at the Cavern Club complex in downtown Ann Arbor.

While promoting the performances, the Follies cast deftly raised the suspense and excitement of their audience by refusing to reveal any of the contents of the show with a "triple-secret lock-down" policy. Of the two performances, the 8:30pm show's audience was significantly larger, holding over 500 attendees. As the cast waited anxiously backstage, the audience enraptured the acoustics in the historic Michigan Theater. Several of the cast members commented that their energy level fed off of that of the audience. Andy Davis, a second-year MBA and one of the actors in the medley in Act II, commented after the show, "I'm still reeling from the thunderous applause at the end of our skit... Truly something I will never forget."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools