Wharton MBA students proved they have just as much musical talent as business skills this weekend. The 36th annual production of Wharton Follies, “How to Succeed in Business School Without Really Trying,” sold out all seats in the Zellerbach Theatre on opening night, Feb. 23.
Wharton Follies, founded in 1976, is Wharton’s MBA comedy and music performance troupe and one of the largest and oldest performing arts groups of its kind.
The Follies portrayed a satirical side to business school life through parodies of hit songs such as, “Moves Like Jagger,” “Teenage Dream” and “Rolling in the Deep.”
Even other business schools were featured when skits such as “Ms. MBA” incorporated other popular business schools like Kellogg, Stern and Harvard. But Follies was most irresistible when it included fellow MBA students at Wharton.
The show started off with a reminder that no MBA student is safe from being the center of attention at Follies. In between songs and skits, pictures of MBA students littered the overhead screens and were subject to jokes such as “who wore it better” and puns involving their names.
Even Wharton faculty, like Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Ankur Kumar and Finance professor Jeremy Siegel, could not escape the Follies’ wit.
The video productions poked fun at everything from the effort it takes to succeed to the history of Wharton School.
The audience, who gave a standing ovation, deemed the performance a great success. “The show was very funny and cleverly written,” said second-year MBA student Wesley Whitaker. “I also came last year and the show is still just as impressive.”
Another second-year MBA student, Juan Penarrieta, said, “The theme for this year’s production was very funny and the show’s success is credited to all the talented cast and crew.”
