Mask and Wig fall show sure to raise your blood sugar

Nostalgic for childhood board games, with a not so child-appropriate twist? Check out The Mask and Wig Club’s fall production of “Magic Mike and Ike.” With its bright colors, ice-cream cone lights and full-sized gingerbread house, the set’s tone is fun and different than anything Mask and Wig has done before.

College senior and stage manager Spencer Winson said this year's set is "definitely the brightest" they've had.

Mask and Wig, the nation's oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe, will perform its fall show at Iron Gate Theatre Wednesday through Saturday nights.

At dress rehearsal, the excitement was palpable. With less than two weeks of rehearsal, the 17 members of the cast spent eight to 11 hours each day rehearsing their self-written sketches.

As per tradition, the fall show is a series of skits, some of which are based on the set’s theme, which was chosen by Winson and other executives long before the sketches were even written. The opening and closing scenes include the entire cast, with original musical pieces written by the troupe’s band.

“We’ve got a really interesting sound this year,” Secretary-Treasurer and College and Wharton senior Milan Savani said.

The ten members of a band — comprised of a full horn section and drum, bass, guitar and piano players — sit on the stage throughout the show. In addition to the two original numbers, they play covers of popular songs as fillers between sketches.

Despite its candy-coated theme, the show includes some sugar-free sketches, most prominently ones relating to the 2016 presidential election.

“It’s cool to be doing this show now with all the political humor that is out there. There is definitely a lot of material for political jokes,” Cast Director and College senior Maurin Mwombela said. “Even outside of that, we came up with a fun group of sketches that fit together for a fun show.”

The production is doing quite well in terms of sales.

“Our business team has a motto: ‘Always be selling,’” Mask and Wig chair and College senior Timothy Bloomsaid. Through posting flyers and ticketing on Locust Walk, the group was able to sell more than of available tickets in advance. Bloom attributed some of the success to allowing people to purchase tickets through Venmo, a money-transfer app, a practice they began last year.

Though they were unable to disclose too much about the show’s content, several members of the troupe agreed on the show’s uniqueness.

“It’s a different angle, different type of comedy,” Savani said.

“I think this show has a really unique take on current events. I think everybody should check it out because I think people will be pleasantly surprised by what they see. It is definitely a different kind of show than any show we’ve done in the past,” Bloom said.

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