"Coda Nostra': a success

Last weekend's debut performance of the Penn Glee Club's spring show, Coda Nostra, was a musical success. Incorporating bright costumes, jazzy dance steps and a wonderful musical repertoire, the show is sure to be an all time best for the Glee Club. The story takes place in the mid 1930s in Chicago where a group of young gangsters are looking for a way to make a quick buck. The young men soon find themselves placing a large bet on an unknown boxer and barely avoiding a scuffle with one of the city's main Mafia mobsters. Written by College junior Daniel Coelho, the plot is completely original, incorporated with well-known songs. Coelho said he got the idea for the story line from watching old movies. He then came up with The Untouchables theme and added some catch phrases and schtick of the time period. "It's quite a thrill to have something in your head and then eight months later to have it realized on stage," Coelho said. "I'm just hoping that the audience enjoys it and laughs in the right places." Cast members said they feel this year's show goes above what has been done in the past. "The Penn Glee Club is most importantly a singing group but in this show acting, comedic timing, dancing and performing the show as a whole have complemented our strength in singing," said College sophomore Todd Shotz, a Penn Glee Club performer. There are many creative aspects of the show that added a humorous edge to the traditional Glee Club style of big dance numbers and broadway music. Pennchants, an a cappella offshoot of the Glee Club, broke the time period theme with a rendition of the eighties hit "The Eye of the Tiger." A clarinet and flute duet also added musical diversity to the review. When the gangsters find themselves with no money and are feeling down about the big loss the cast begins to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water." It is these unique numbers that keep the audience asking for more. For the finale, the cast exhibits excellent dancing and musical skills in a tuxedo clad, tap-shoe rendition of "We're in the Money."