What: Stern Follies 2021 — A Lad In B-School
When: May 7th: 8pm – 10pm ET
Where: Register on Campus Groups — link for show to follow.
With less than a month until Stern Follies 2021, David Granik and Morgan Salvan, the Co-Presidents of Stern Follies and graduating MBA students, are hard at work to put the final touches on one of the largest annual events of the year.
Normally held in front of a live audience of 700-800 in NYU’s Skirball Center, this year will follow the format of last spring — livestreamed online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show has been a long time coming for the duo. Preparation and ideation began last summer and there has rarely been a break in the past few months.
Follies is a creative outlet that business schools across the country run — it is a multi-media comedy event, that, at its core, is a Saturday Night Live type production with Digital Short-style videos played between the acts of a long-form show. Having a cohesive story throughout the production was first implemented in 2017, and this year will follow with a familiar Disney motif. In 2018-2020 it was Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Mermaid, and now in 2021 it is the thrilling conclusion to the Disney chapter: Aladdin!
“In our show, A Lad in B-School, Aladdin is an MBA1 who comes to Stern to leave his social impact background and pursue the life of investment banking,” Salvan said. “Early on, he meets Jasmine, a sponsored student who comes from the bank of his dreams. Jafar is a scheming MBA2. Iago, Abu, Rajah, and the rest of the gang are all in the mix as well. There are some creative interpretations of each of the characters from the original film — we’re excited for people to see what we came up with.”
“We wrote original lyrics to six Aladdin classics plus a couple of additional songs that we think will add a nice layer to the show,” Granik added. “We have also been able to get some surprise cameos from Stern professors and administrators. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The classic business school tropes are highlighted and parodied throughout the program. With COVID, this year presented a unique set of challenges, but the script has blended enough references so that the entire Stern community will be able to latch onto points of familiarity and common ground. Whether it’s recruiting, spit tests, night classes, nose swabs, zoom classes, or sessions with OCD, there’s sure to be something for everyone.
“There is some degree of sentimentality, that comes with this project” said Salvan. “Follies gives us a chance to celebrate the atypical experience we’ve had together for the last time before graduation.”
“We have worked incredibly hard on this and are so grateful to entire cast for investing hours and hours into it with us,” Granik said. “Without them it would just be our words and ideas on paper.”
“I have been blown away by the remarkable talent of my classmates. I can’t wait for people’s reactions to what each of them bring to the table,” said Salvan.
See A Lad in B-School on May 7th at 8pm ET. Register on CampusGroups and keep your eyes open for the link to the livesteam.
