The unthinkable has happened: HMS has dropped to number two in the medical school rankings, losing out to some school in Baltimore. What is a dean of medical education to do? In the 102nd Second Year Show, Jules Dienstag sets out to restore HMS to its former glory by crafting the new new new curriculum. He’s Got Curriculum, directed by Paulvalery Roulette and Ibrahim Khansa, takes much of its inspiration from television. Dienstag gives a group of professors one last chance to reconfigure their courses and help bring HMS back to the top spot in the rankings. Each professor’s new (but not-so-improved) course is presented via a spoof on a television show, after which he or she must enter the boardroom and receive Dean Dienstag’s verdict.
Chris DeSesa’s turn as Jules Dienstag makes the show. Part Dr. Evil, part Donald Trump, DeSesa’s Dienstag gleefully insults and then fires each and every instructor, with impeccable comic timing. An unabashed blowhard who “eats success for breakfast,” he tells Kate Treadway (Katherine Walker) that her introductory course needs “a little less Introduction and a little more Profession.” No wonder Trudy Van Houten (Regan Bergmark) calls him “Dr. Meanstag.” Dienstag’s buffoonery is further enabled by his adorable assistant Evan, played by Jordan Strom, who eagerly caters to his every whim. Strom’s acting chops were evident, since despite his lack of a speaking part, his antics as Evan frequently had the audience in stitches.
But did this year mark the end of the Bhangra Era? The Class of 2011’s Second Year Show was missing the splashy song-and-dance numbers of years past, including the formerly obligatory Punjabi folk dancing. But what He’s Got Curriculum lacked in fancy footwork, it made up for in strong writing. In between send-ups like “MCM Bachelor,” a dating-game-style show in which Cell Bio associate professor Randy King (Adam Donnell) must find his biochemistry queen, the audience was treated to commercials for faux pharmaceuticals like Gunnopril (for the treatment of idiopathic gunner syndrome) and Geico Dental Insurance (“So easy, even a Dental can do it!”) Those hankering for dancing got an occasional fix, including Dienstag and Evan’s delightful pas de deux.
Several musicians from the Class of 2011 stood out. Chinyere Obimba, who served as the production’s music director, got the show off to a strong start with “Study, Study, Study,” set to the tune of “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays, and later stole the scene during “Physiology Magic School Bus.” Nadia Farjo’s vocal talent was kept under wraps until the end, when, dressed as an ob/ob mouse in tribute to HMS dean Jeffrey Flier’s obesity research, she masterfully delivered the concluding song, “This Is How We Do It (HMS and HSDM Style).” Another musical highlight was Sherman Jia’s violin accompaniment to a reading of “Ferdinand the Bull” during intermission.
It would not be the Second Year Show without searing parodies of everything HMS holds dear. Referring to Patient–Doctor I, a student asks, “Why do we have to take a class to learn to pretend like we care?” HST students, as hopelessly nerdy and socially inept as ever, demand to be known by their new culturally sensitive name: the London Society. Even Sarah Palin does not escape the skewering.
As usual, the breadth of talent im-presses. If the second-years want HMS to regain its top ranking, they might consider challenging those students in Baltimore to a talent competition.
