So, when was the last time you set foot inside Burden Auditorium? Was it a month ago when the oddly curved stadium seating made it impossible to read a slide from at least a third of the seats? Or when the small wood paneled stage appeared so far away that the speaker would have appeared closer via webcast? Well, prepare yourself for a surprise on Wednesday when the Harvard Business School Show reveals Burden’s striking new interior.
Burden completes its miraculous transformation into a fully equipped theater when the curtain opens on Infernal Rate of Return on Wednesday night, at 8 pm. Some of you may have noticed the caravan of trucks and vans streaming up to the doors and unloading all manner of industrial equipment. Some may have even had the opportunity to step inside for a quick peek and seen the construction in progress. But unless you’ve stopped by recently, you haven’t really seen the magic.
Curtains flank the old stage, and cradle a new stage that extends forward, well… into your lap. Technical scaffolding frames the room as if it were part of the SFP expansion project. Lights, orchestra pits, and props are strategically placed causing the highest row of seats to feel closer and cozier than a sky-deck. Furthermore, behind a hand-built technical table arguably based on an advanced NASA design, stagehands and staff orchestrate more lights, action, and pyrotechnics than a Kiss reunion tour. Ok, so there are no pyrotechnics, but there will definitely be more talent.
If the set is any indication, you are in for an amazing experience over the next few days, as classmates and partners representing just about every section, RC and EC, amaze you with talent that goes largely unrecognized elsewhere. All involved have put in a lot of effort (both on the stage and behind the scenes) to make this a full-fledged musical production. The HBS show is more than a mere play, talent, or variety show. Rather, the performance is a musical on a scale that only HBS would be ambitious enough to attempt. As one faculty member recently noted, “Every time I see my students in the Show, I’m amazed to see a level of talent that never comes out in the classroom…”
Writers Andrew Boer, Lou DiLorenzo (OK), Alex Mandl (OF), and Stephen Shafer (OH), have teed up a hilarious, light-hearted satire of MBA life, section romance, the ever-intimidating job market, and, yes, Finance. One-liners and riffs make their way into each rehearsal, making the Show funnier each day. Singers, dancers, the band, and staff run through the finest details for hours on end as the Show gears up for opening night. Burden becomes theater as classmates become performers. Watch the transformation. Laugh. Be entertained.
Infernal Rate of Return runs Wednesday April 17th through Saturday April 20th in Burden Auditorium. Doors open daily at 7:30 pm and the show begins at 8:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased on Quick Pay for $27 each, at //archive.harbus.org/quickpay/hbsshow/, but act soon as seating is limited!
