Varsity Show Explained

The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University. Founded in 1893 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series of performances every April. Dedicated to producing a unique full-length musical that skewers and satirizes many dubious aspects of life at Columbia, the Varsity Show is written and performed exclusively by university undergraduates. Various renowned playwrights, composers, authors, directors, and actors have contributed to the Varsity Show, either as writers or performers, while students at Columbia, including Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, Herman J. Mankiewicz, I. A. L. Diamond, Herman Wouk, Greta Gerwig, and Kate McKinnon.

Having previously been staged at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Waldorf-Astoria, and the Hotel Astor, the Varsity Show has been permanently based on campus since 1944. Notable past shows include Fly With Me (1920), The Streets of New York (1948), The Sky's the Limit (1954), and Angels at Columbia (1994). In particular, Streets of New York, after having been revived three times, opened off-Broadway in 1963 and was awarded a 1964 Drama Desk Award. The Mischief Maker (1903), written by Edgar Allan Woolf and Cassius Freeborn, premiered at Madison Square Garden in 1906 as Mam'zelle Champagne.

History

Founding

The Columbia College Dramatic Club (the "Strollers"), the predecessor to the Varsity Show, was established in 1886 as a way to raise funds for the university's athletic teams. The proceeds of the club's first performance were donated to the university rowing team.[1] Though originally founded as an undergraduate organization, the Strollers soon began admitting members who had already graduated into the cast, in addition to professional actors; it stopped contributing to university athletics around 1890, instead keeping the money it raised for itself, having grown into a semi-professional theater company with only a tenuous relationship with the college. The issue of funding for athletics had deteriorated to the point where the Columbia Lions football and men's rowing teams had ceased operations in 1892.[2]

In response, the undergraduate student body formed the Columbia College Music Society in 1893, which was to perform burlesques entirely written and performed by students. The first show, Joan of Arc, or The Monarch, The Maid, The Minister, and The Magician, written by Guy Wetmore Carryl and Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison, debuted on April 2, 1894. The show was first dubbed the "Varsity Show" in 1900 with the performance of The Governor's Vrouw, written by Henry Sydnor Harrison, Melville Henry Cane, and John Erskine.

The lyrics and book of the 1903 Varsity Show, The Mischief Maker, were written by Edgar Allan Woolf, and set to music by Cassius Freeborn. It moved to Broadway three years later, with its all-male student cast replaced with traditional casting, under the name Mam'zelle Champagne. It was during its premiere at Madison Square Garden that architect Stanford White, whose firm had designed Columbia's Morningside Heights campus, was shot by Harry Kendall Thaw.[3]

Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Hart

The music for the 1920 Varsity Show, Fly With Me, was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Since the book for the play was considered inadequate by the judges, the tunes were adapted to another entry, written by Philip Leavitt and Milton Kroopf. During the editing process, alumnus and judge Oscar Hammerstein II, who had first appeared in the Varsity show in the 1915 production, On Your Way, added two of his own songs to the musical, "There's Always Room For One More" and "Weaknesses". This incident marked the first instance of collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, a partnership that would go on to initiate the "golden age" of musical theater in the 20th century. The writing of Fly With Me was one of the only collaborations between all three men. The next year, Rodgers and Hart co-wrote the Varsity Show again.

Rodgers was the first freshman to write any portion of the Varsity Show, and would later cite his participation in the show as his sole reason for choosing to attend Columbia, writing:

The three men collaborated again for the 1921 show, You'll Never Know, with Rodgers writing the music, Hart the lyrics, and Hammerstein as "Director of Production". This was the only show where all three men worked together directly.[4]

Later history

The 1948 Varsity Show, The Streets of New York, co-written by Alan Koehler and Joseph Meredith and with music by Richard Chodosh and Phil Springer, was so popular upon its premiere that it was revived three times (1952, 1958, 1961). A version of it opened at the Maidman Playhouse in 1963, and was awarded the 1964 Drama Desk Special Award.[5]

The Columbia University Bicentennial was celebrated in 1954. That year's Varsity Show saw the return of a number of alumni contributors, including Roy Webb, Kenneth Webb, Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz, I. A. L. Diamond, Herman Wouk, and Chodosh. It recounted the history of the university since its founding, with scenes such as "The Revolutionary War and Who Won It", "Barnard College is Founded for Good Reasons", and "Football is Banned at Morningside".

In 1968, the Varsity Show was cancelled due to the large-scale protests at the university that year, and would not stage another performance until 1978. The next performance, a revival of Fly With Me, was in 1980, the 60th anniversary of the musical. 1982 saw two Varsity Shows: College on Broadway, which stitched together several shows from earlier in the century, and Columbia Graffiti, a low-key, one-hour production that was accompanied by only a piano; due to the success of that year's shows, another production, Fear of Scaffolding, was made the next year, and, combined with Columbia Graffiti, was performed on Dean's Day 1983 before an alumni audience.In response, the Class of 1920, headed by President Arthur Snyder, who had performed in the original production of Fly With Me, donated their class treasury to create a prize fund to support future productions of the Varsity Show, fully reviving the tradition.

The Varsity Show's centennial production, Angels at Columbia, in 1994, included performances by several celebrities, including former vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, NBC news anchor Jane Pauley, and sports journalist Len Berman.[6]

The pony ballet

From its inception, the Varsity Show had been an all-male production, and always featured cross-dressing. The high point of every show was the pony ballet, a type of kickline routine. This often involved athletes, especially football players, who became increasingly involved as the pretense of appearing passingly female was slowly dropped over time. They apparently took their roles very seriously, and, according to football coach John F. Bateman, who was a pony in the Fair Enough (1939), would practice three hours every day in preparation for their roles.

Though Columbia College only started admitting women in 1983, Barnard College had been founded nearly a century earlier in 1889, and Teachers College had been coeducational since its founding in 1887. Women performed in the Varsity Show in the 1936 production, Off Your Marx, and were met with great applause.[7] However, during the 1937 show, Some of the People, undergraduates reportedly shooed the female cast members off stage by pelting them with bananas and pennies. The presence of women in the Varsity Show only returned in 1956, and the show has been coeducational since. The pony ballet was revived in 1988, and has since appeared on and off.

Venues

Since the university had no dedicated performance spaces on campus, the first Varsity Show, Joan of Arc, premiered in 1894 at the theater of the Manhattan Athletic Club.[8] The planned 1895 show, The Buccaneer, was slated to be performed at the same venue; however, this was objected to by the authors of the show, who complained that the space was too cramped, as well as by its two lead actors. Due to the impasse, the show for that year was cancelled, and was instead performed in 1896. An 1894 plan for the university's new Morningside Heights campus proposed the construction of an academic theater at the level of 118th Street; it never materialized.[9]

The lack of an adequate performance space on campus continued through the first half of the 20th century, during which the Varsity Show was staged at various venues around the cities, including Carnegie Hall, the Waldorf-Astoria, and the Hotel Astor. The university's now-demolished Brander Matthews Theatre was constructed in 1940, and the production permanently moved onto campus in 1944. Later on, the Varsity Show would move into the McMillin Theatre in Dodge Hall, and then Ferris Booth Hall. In 2023, the show was performed in the Roone Arledge Auditorium of Alfred Lerner Hall.

Prior to 1967, the Varsity Show occasionally went on tours around the country, performing in cities including Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.. The 1901 show is recorded to have taken a tour through Connecticut, with its first performance in New Haven.[10]

Past Varsity Shows

Notable alumni

The following is a list of people who have written, performed, directed, worked backstage, or otherwise been associated with the show. The year beside each name indicates the year(s) of their involvement; if unknown, listed instead is their degree and year of graduation.

In popular culture

The 1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald short story "Head and Shoulders" depicts a performance of the 1917 Varsity Show, Home, James, written by Hammerstein and Herman Axelrod,[41] in which the character Marcia Meadows is an actress.[42] In the story, the play is turned into a fully professional production. Though the scene takes place at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Fitzgerald may have actually watched the show at the Hotel Astor as a student at Princeton University.[43]

The Columbia Varsity Show is satirized in the 1937 film Varsity Show.[44]

In the 1955 Herman Wouk novel Marjorie Morningstar, the character Wally Wronken, an aspiring playwright, writes a Varsity Show, which is accepted by the judges and premieres at the Waldorf.[45]

The fourth season of Dear White People, set at the fictional Ivy League Winchester University, centers around the staging of the university's annual Varsity Show, which is based on the Columbia tradition.[46]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vinciguerra . Thomas J. . Sing a Song of Morningside . 2021-08-28 . thevarsityshow.com . en-US.
  2. News: Hall . Hamilton . March 23, 1893 . Possibilities of a Genuine Columbia Dramatic Club . Columbia Daily Spectator . June 30, 2023.
  3. Book: Dietz, Dan . The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals . 2022-07-15 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-5381-6894-3 . 365 . en.
  4. Web site: The Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition—Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein . 2023-07-01 . exhibitions.library.columbia.edu.
  5. Web site: Nominees and Recipients: 1964 Awards . 2023-06-30 . dramadesk.org . en-US.
  6. Web site: The Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition—Evolution . 2023-06-30 . exhibitions.library.columbia.edu.
  7. News: December 12, 1935 . Beefy Chorus Out of Columbia Show: Real Women to Appear This Year in Varsity Play, Ending a 40-Year Tradition . The New York Times . August 10, 2022.
  8. Web site: The Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition—Beginnings . 2023-06-30 . exhibitions.library.columbia.edu.
  9. News: May 18, 1894 . The New Site . Columbia Daily Spectator . June 30, 2023.
  10. News: March 12, 1901 . Varsity Show Trip . Columbia Daily Spectator . June 30, 2023.
  11. Web site: Vinciguerra . Thomas J. . Sing a Song of Morningside . 2021-08-28 . thevarsityshow.com . en-US.
  12. Book: Geiger, Roger L. . Iconic Leaders in Higher Education . 2017-07-05 . Routledge . 978-1-351-51393-7 . en.
  13. Book: Columbia Alumni News . 1924 . Alumni Council of Columbia University. . 267–268 . en.
  14. News: March 13, 1904 . Columbia in Skirts . The New York Times . August 10, 2022.
  15. Book: Columbia Alumni News . 1924 . Alumni Council of Columbia University. . 267–268 . en.
  16. Book: The Columbian . 1911 . Columbia University . 105 . en.
  17. Web site: Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions The Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition – Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein . 2020-08-01 . exhibitions.library.columbia.edu.
  18. Book: Columbia Alumni News . 1926 . Alumni Council of Columbia University. . 389 . en.
  19. News: January 8, 1931 . Varsity Show Picked for Columbia . The New York Times . August 10, 2022.
  20. Book: Columbia Alumni News . 1931 . Alumni Council of Columbia University. . 9 . en.
  21. Book: McGregor, Michael N. . Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax . 2015-09-22 . Fordham University Press . 978-0-8232-6803-0 . 33 . en.
  22. Web site: Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions The Varsity Show: A Columbia Tradition – I.A.L. Diamond . 2020-08-01 . exhibitions.library.columbia.edu.
  23. Book: Library of Congress Copyright Office . Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series . 1947 . 25 . en.
  24. Web site: Columbia College Today . 2022-05-04 . www.college.columbia.edu.
  25. Web site: Boss . Shira J. . 2003 . All the World Truly Is a Stage . 2023-07-02 . www.college.columbia.edu.
  26. Web site: Biography: Alexa Junge . 2023-07-02 . americanrepertorytheater.org . en-US.
  27. News: Kuczynski . Alexandra . April 11, 1990 . America replies with baseball books . Columbia Daily Spectator . July 1, 2023.
  28. Web site: Powers . John . 2017-04-17 . Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is Ready For His Close Up . 2023-07-02 . Vogue . en-US.
  29. Web site: Katz . Jamie . 2014 . The Marriage of True Minds . 2023-07-02 . www.college.columbia.edu.
  30. News: Miltner . Katy . March 29, 2001 . Junior Varsity 107th Annual Varsity Show Previews at West End . Columbia Daily Spectator . July 1, 2023.
  31. News: Silberberg . Hattie . March 31, 2000 . Comedy Tradition Carries On . Columbia Daily Spectator . July 1, 2023.
  32. Web site: Varsity Show's 107th Production: A Modern Spectacle That Evokes Rich Tradition . 2022-05-24 . www.columbia.edu.
  33. News: Camparo . Robyn . September 23, 1999 . Actress, R.A., Singer, Donna Vivino, Les Miserables' Cosette, Does it All . Columbia Daily Spectator . July 1, 2023.
  34. News: April 25, 2002 . 108th Varsity Show . Columbia Daily Spectator . July 1, 2023.
  35. Web site: Wallace . Phil . Summer 2018 . In the Director's Chair . August 11, 2021 . Columbia College Today.
  36. Web site: Shachter . Susan . May 5, 2015 . The Salon: You Will See the Doctor Now . June 8, 2019 . Barnard College.
  37. Web site: Russo . Jax . April 10, 2003 . 109th Annual Varsity Show . 2021-08-29 . spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu.
  38. Web site: The I.A.L. Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts . 2023-07-02 . The Varsity Show . en-US.
  39. Web site: V110: Off Broadway (2004) . 2023-07-02 . The Varsity Show . en-US.
  40. Web site: V111: The Sound of Muses (2005) . 2023-07-02 . The Varsity Show . en-US.
  41. News: Hammerstein . Oscar . August 2, 1953 . Musical Keystone . New York Times . June 30, 2023.
  42. Book: Fitzgerald, F. Scott . Flappers and Philosophers . Cambridge University Press . 2000 . West . James L.W. . xxvi–xxvii.
  43. Book: West, James L. W. . Business Is Good: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Professional Writer . 2023-03-07 . Penn State Press . 978-0-271-09664-3 . 14 . en.
  44. Book: Gordon, Dr Roger L. . Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures: Volume II . 2018-09-07 . Dorrance Publishing . 978-1-4809-5841-8 . 22 . en.
  45. Book: Wouk, Herman . Marjorie Morningstar . 2013-01-15 . Little, Brown . 978-0-316-24854-9 . en.
  46. Web site: Agard . Chancellor . August 17, 2021 . 'Dear White People' is alive with the sound of '90s music in final season trailer . 2023-06-30 . ew.com . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Varsity Show".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.