Shut Up and Drink Your Kool-Aid
I need to first start off by saying that the performers at the HBS Show were truly fantastic. It's impressive that a business school has so many terrific dancers and singers. And while all the dancers were just unbelievable, Meg was by far the best. And I'm not just saying that because I like her.
Now, let me tell you what I thought of the show. (And a little background: The HBS Show is to HBS what the Hasty Pudding is to Harvard undergraduates. It satirizes the glamorous life of the Hah-vahd business student.) Honestly, it was not that bad. The show was about reality television coming to HBS and the first half of it was somewhat amusing. The second half just dragged on. To quote Kara, to truly enjoy this production you would have to have drunk the HBS Kool-Aid, and as most of you know, I hate Kool-Aid. This was one of those ideas that couldn't sustain itself over a two-hour (yes, two hour! or rather two hours and twenty minutes with the intermission) production. Interestingly, the songs all used the tunes of popular or Broadway songs, and not a one of them was credited. For example, "Used to Have a Billion Dollars" was sung to the Barenaked Ladies "If I Had a Million Dollars" and "Why, MBA?" to the tune of "YMCA" ("Young man, why be an MBA grad? I said, young man, who needs khakis and plaid, I said, young man, FRC just ain't cool, There's no need to stay in b-school") although, by reading the program, you'd have thought HBSers wrote the all music themselves. The thing is, the show wasn't all that different from the skits done at section dinners, at the Holidazzle Ball, and what I'm sure we'll see at the Newport Ball. It's just that the barbs are more general and the production value much higher. It was a lot of privileged students saying, "Look, we can make fun of ourselves, which is just even more proof that we're better than everyone else!"
What really made the whole experience just ridiculous was the audience. Students are in the show. Students are watching the show. So the minute someone walks on stage, from throughout the room, you would hear, "Michael!! Michael!! Yeah, Michael! Whoo hoooo! Hi, Michael!" A variation of this is the section cheering, the "Hey Section Z! Yeah, Section Z!" A charming, quiet blonde sat behind us (yeah, right) who would drown out everything behind her as she tried to get the attention of people on the stage. "Michael! Michael! Over here! Yeah, Michael!"
I am so over the whole HBS experience.
Now, let me tell you what I thought of the show. (And a little background: The HBS Show is to HBS what the Hasty Pudding is to Harvard undergraduates. It satirizes the glamorous life of the Hah-vahd business student.) Honestly, it was not that bad. The show was about reality television coming to HBS and the first half of it was somewhat amusing. The second half just dragged on. To quote Kara, to truly enjoy this production you would have to have drunk the HBS Kool-Aid, and as most of you know, I hate Kool-Aid. This was one of those ideas that couldn't sustain itself over a two-hour (yes, two hour! or rather two hours and twenty minutes with the intermission) production. Interestingly, the songs all used the tunes of popular or Broadway songs, and not a one of them was credited. For example, "Used to Have a Billion Dollars" was sung to the Barenaked Ladies "If I Had a Million Dollars" and "Why, MBA?" to the tune of "YMCA" ("Young man, why be an MBA grad? I said, young man, who needs khakis and plaid, I said, young man, FRC just ain't cool, There's no need to stay in b-school") although, by reading the program, you'd have thought HBSers wrote the all music themselves. The thing is, the show wasn't all that different from the skits done at section dinners, at the Holidazzle Ball, and what I'm sure we'll see at the Newport Ball. It's just that the barbs are more general and the production value much higher. It was a lot of privileged students saying, "Look, we can make fun of ourselves, which is just even more proof that we're better than everyone else!"
What really made the whole experience just ridiculous was the audience. Students are in the show. Students are watching the show. So the minute someone walks on stage, from throughout the room, you would hear, "Michael!! Michael!! Yeah, Michael! Whoo hoooo! Hi, Michael!" A variation of this is the section cheering, the "Hey Section Z! Yeah, Section Z!" A charming, quiet blonde sat behind us (yeah, right) who would drown out everything behind her as she tried to get the attention of people on the stage. "Michael! Michael! Over here! Yeah, Michael!"
I am so over the whole HBS experience.
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