Preparations are well underway for our 121st Annual Production, Oh, the Humanities!. As many of you may already know, the schedule for this year’s show is going to be a little different, due to issues with our renovation project. We’re opening the show two weeks later than usual, and will be performing for several weeks at the Prince Music Theater in February. Then, after tour in March, our hope is to return to the Clubhouse for at least one weekend; this, of course, will depend upon a successful completion of the renovation by that time. While this sort of situation will be a challenge, we believed that it was critical to do everything possible to reduce uncertainty and put our show on stage at the Prince while still offering a potential opportunity for this year's seniors to return to the Clubhouse, to both maintain our traditions and continue the streak of production successes that we’ve enjoyed over the past few years.

Oh, the Humanities! will be Mask and Wig’s take on the Italian Renaissance, set in Florence and focusing on characters like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. On the creative front, the book has gone through several drafts and is largely complete, thanks to a talented group of undergraduate writers led by head-writer Ruben Henriquez '09. Much of the music is also complete, thanks to the efforts of composer and musical coordinator Neil Radisch '86. We are very pleased to welcome back our stage director, Tony Braithwaite, for a third time. Mr. Braithwaite is a successful Philadelphia-based actor and director, and winner of the 2005 Barrymore Award for best leading actor in a musical. We're also welcoming two new designers: lighting designer Shelley Hicklin, also a Barrymore Award winner, and scenic designer Meghan Jones, a local designer and scenic design teacher at Ursinus College. The rest of our production staff - musical director Gene Bender, choreographer Suzy Zucker, and costume designer Tina Green-Heinze - are all returning from last year. The team is already hard at work drafting and designing their preliminary materials for our second production meeting, coming up in a few weeks. Rehearsals will begin in early January, with official Opening Night set for Thursday, February 12th.

With fewer performances and greater challenges than usual this year, your support is more critical than ever. Graduate Club patronage of the show program always provides critical support to our creative efforts, but this year we need it even more – to offset the expense of alternative rehearsal and performance space and other unusual costs, and to make up some of the difference in ticket revenue from the change in schedule and decrease in performances. There are a number of options available:

You or your company can take out a full-page ($600) or half-page ($400) advertisement in our program. If you wish to be even more generous, full-page, full-color ads ($800) are also available.

You can become a Page Sponsor ($500), thus helping us include the club history, clubhouse artwork, alumni listings, and other traditional “Club” elements of the program.

You can become a Patron ($100), Donor ($200) or Sponsor ($300) of the Production. Your gift will be gratefully acknowledged in our program.

Whichever option you choose, your gift will help us create an outstanding show, providing this year’s undergraduates with the same opportunity as was provided for all of us.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via phone at 215-840-0662, or e-mail at Josh.Slatko@maskandwig.com.