Tenth annual CUPAL showcase puts spotlight on upcoming theater performances

On Thursday, classy suits and fancy dresses made an appearance under the haze of dimmed lights on campus. This was no celebrity awards gala, but it was the closest thing the theater enthusiasts of Columbia have to a night of honoring and flaunting their talents.

The Columbia University Performing Arts League kicked off the spring 2010 season with its 10th annual CUPAL showcase in Roone Arledge Auditorium. While highlighting some performances from last fall—such as the King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe’s “Othello” and Columbia Musical Theater Society’s “Secret Garden”—the night also featured previews for upcoming shows, including the highly anticipated 116th Varsity Show.

Orchesis, whose spring show will open at Roone Arledge Auditorium on March 28, started the night off doing what they do best—dancing up a storm. Both numbers, “Rock the Beat Rock the Show” and “Filthy Gorgeous,” balanced a skillful mix of modern, jazz, and hip-hop. While the performances at times relied a little too much on “hairography,” the ladies of Orchesis were able to play up their feminine assets without stooping to hoochie levels.

Latenite Theatre showcased the night’s first theatrical performance with “Love in the Modern World,” one of the plays in the upcoming spring anthology of plays, running April 15-17 in the new Diana Black Box Theater.

The short comedic play involved an amusing albeit campy scenario, showing a guy trying to explain his involvement with a counter-ninja governmental agency to his nagging girlfriend. Put simply, it was no “House of Flying Daggers,” although a flying dagger almost poked me in the eye, as it flew out of the hands of one of the so-called ninjas.

The most innovative performance of the night belonged to NOMADS’ “The Leap of Ersatz!” Coming to the Diana Black Box Theater April 1-4, the play tells the tale of a ball of light—the light of a flashlight projected onto a sheet—and its adventures with two shadow people. While on paper it might sound a little strange, the preview at the showcase was reminiscent of Pixar’s classic short films.

CU Players debuted a segment of their upcoming March production of “Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral,” a show in the style of “Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding” coming to campus this March. After the droll monologue of Rabbi Michael Wolfe, grandma Sylvia’s family abruptly entered the room, mingling with the audience, causing confusion and hilarity. It may not have been the most cohesive performance of the night, but it was definitely the funniest.

Not to be outdone, the 116th Varsity Show, premiering at Roone Arledge Auditorium on April 30, unveiled the number titled “JellyBroNuts” from their notoriously secret production. In true Varsity Show form, the performance included stereotypical insults, targeted at all schools of the University, as the performers argued back and forth with retorts such as, “It not SEAS… it’s the F.U. Foundation!” While it may not have been the most original display of Columbia-centric theater, the spirited performance of the cast and the clever transformation of insults into the actual beat of the song kept the proceedings entertaining.

And so, with a toast to mark the end of the night’s performances, the spring season of campus theater was uncorked.