Matthew Millan, a 1987 College alumnus, remembers the first time he entered the Mask and Wig Clubhouse as a freshman member of the stage crew in the early 1980s.
"You're struck by the history and beauty of the building," he said. "You come to understand the experience of a club that has been around for so long, realizing you're part of a tradition much bigger than many parts of Penn."
The club traditionally spends two months performing its spring show in the S. Quincy Street venue, which is more than a century old.
But due to setbacks related to the Clubhouse's renovation, the members of the nation's oldest all-male musical comedy troupe will take their places on a different stage this year.
The curtain will rise at the end of April at the Prince Music Theater for Mask and Wig's 120th annual spring production - "West Wing Story: You Can't Scandal the Truth."
Construction to restore historical facilities and update mechanical systems started last May, said Millian, who is active in the club's alumni network and an architect overseeing the project. They are the first major renovations since the early 1900s.
The renovations were originally supposed to be complete by December, Mask and Wig secretary-treasurer and College junior Anthony Maggio said. But late last fall, it became clear that the building would not be ready in time.
The troupe traditionally performs every Friday and Saturday night from the end of January to the end of March - 18 to 20 shows per season. The spring show is a Penn institution: Last year's show sold approximately 3,500 tickets, 1,700 of which were purchased by current students.
To allow enough preparation time, the club explored other performance schedules.
At first it planned a five-week run starting after Spring Fling, Undergraduate Club chairman and Engineering senior James Wong said. After more delays in January, it decided on a two-week run in late April.
But two weeks before the troupe was set to move back into the theater, it hit another roadblock - an electrical fire struck the Clubhouse at 2 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, March 15.
Though Millan said insurance will cover repairs, the damage will set back the renovation process two to three more months.
So while in past years the group would have been well into its spring run by now, the group found itself without a venue.
"The fire hit at the worst possible time," Wong said. "It really tested the club's morale."
But Mask and Wig had not canceled a performance since World War II, and thanks to the troupe's enthusiasm and effort, the show will go on.
Millan said he heard about the fire early Saturday morning and began calling other board members. Within 20 minutes, the show's producer had an alternative space lined up for the same two weeks that they had planned to perform in the Clubhouse.
That action reflects the tremendous energy that went into making the show a reality in spite of setbacks, Millan said.
Maggio said the material in this year's show will not change - members have been working on the script since last March - but the set will be scaled back. The club cannot move into the new theater until the day before the show opens and will not have time for extensive assembly, he said.
"It's an off year for the upperclassmen, but they know what we're about and are proud of it," Wong said. "The new guys haven't had a chance to embrace how impressive it is yet."
Wong said his priority is ensuring that all members - especially freshmen - enjoy the complete experience of Mask and Wig, whose long-standing traditions include performing at the Clubhouse and taking their show on the road for a national tour over spring break.
Realizing the tour would not work this year since it wouldn't leave enough rehearsal time, the club added a third production that toured over winter break.
Engineering freshman Omar Maskati said upperclassmen are helping new members engage in the full experience even without the Clubhouse - of which they've only seen the exterior and heard stories.
"It doesn't feel like anything is messed up because we have nothing else to base a year in Mask and Wig on, but it has still been a lot of fun," Maskati said. "We just keep hearing to wait until next year when things will be back to normal."
Ideally, Wong said, the troupe will resume its regular schedule next year in the restored Clubhouse.
For now he wants the audience - students, alumni and members of the Philadelphia community who return every year - to know that Mask and Wig is still going strong.
"It's been rough but we're really excited," he said.
