The Mask and Wig Club celebrates 126 years of musical comedy with its new production, “Wishful Sinking,” through April 4 at the Mask and Wig Clubhouse.
Launched in 1888, Mask and Wig started with a small group of Penn undergraduates who were interested in the stage but wanted to do something different, much like the students who attend the college today.
Jordan Rodnizki, currently a sophomore at Penn, was looking for just such a group.
“I’m a theater major at Penn and I’m actually one of the few in the company,” he said. “When looking at Penn, I saw that the best musical-theater experience that the university offered was the Mask and Wig experience, which produced an all-original, two-act musical comedy that was written every single year. Most people don’t know about Mask and Wig before going to college but I definitely did my research and knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Andres Martinez, currently a junior at Penn, said Mask and Wig got his attention because it was the theater group with the most challenging auditions.
“They only accepted six members that year,” he said. “The other groups accepted a lot more people and weren’t as challenging. This group had a lot of history and talent and was a comfortable environment for me to be in.”
Mask and Wig upholds the traditions the club had when it started, producing comedies written by Penn undergrads, where all the roles, regardless of gender, are played by men.
“It’s a very long-standing tradition,” Rodnizki said. “It stems from this idea that, in Elizabethan comedies in the 1600s, men always played women. In the theatrical history of the University of Pennsylvania, people who wanted to do classical Greek tragedy studied in the Classics Department, and people who wanted to do Shakespeare studied in the English Department. There was no avenue for the vaudevillian theater that was popular at that time, and Mask and Wig provided that opportunity. At that time, women weren’t allowed to attend the university, it being the late 19th century. So men got to do the typical vaudevillian troups, which involved playing women as well. We’ve kept that tradition going with growing questions of whether or not that is politically correct in today’s climate. There was an organization that was created in the 1970s that was a female response to Mask and Wig, which is known as Bloomers. Today we have an amazing relationship with them and work together in different capacities.”
This year’s production, “Wishful Sinking,” takes place aboard a cruise ship, and the passengers realize that all is not ship-shape.
Rodnizki plays Ellie, who is in a love triangle with the protagonist.
“Ellie is the romantic leading lady in this story,” he said. “She is the Broadway star of the show that is being performed on the ship. My story is, three years ago I was engaged to be married to this gentleman and mysteriously I vanished with no trace. Bryan is coming with his new wife, Kym, on his honeymoon and sees that I am the Broadway star on this ship and the romance is rekindled. Will he break up his relationship or will he continue with his newlywed happiness? It’s a devilish, diva-ish role but, at the same time, we find out that Kym might not be who she says she is. I enjoy playing the multifaceted role that allows me to be a criminal and a diva, but as well be a kind-hearted woman on the inside and to really explore the different emotions of this character.”
Martinez plays Fabrizio, who is the catalyst for Bryan’s transformation.
“He’s a salesman,” Martinez said. “It’s kind of a pun character. He comes to save the lead character of the show who keeps getting beat up by his wife. At the end of the show, I have a number urging Brian to man up and stand up against his wife. That leads to making Brian the hero at the end of the show.”
Both Rodnizki and Martinez said that the humor of the show doesn’t hinge upon some of the performers being in drag.
“We definitely avoid using cross-dressing as the crux of the humor,” Rodnizki said. “Instead, we flesh out the multifaceted female characters that are just another part of the topical pop-culture humor. We really don’t use the appropriation of women as part of the humor in our production. We think we are smarter than that.”
“We have been so used to performing as girls in drag in Mask and Wig, so for us it’s a matter of not making it campy or that being in drag is a joke,” Martinez added. “We strive to look as much like girls as possible and emulate feminine moves and walks. You have to shave your beard and chest hair. For us, it’s not out of this world. We don’t make it campy or offensive. Of course there is humor is us playing girls, but internally we really get inside the character and try to act as the character would, without caring about gender.”
Both also said that audiences, gay and straight, will enjoy “Wishful Sinking.”
“For a mainstream audience, they enjoy the hip references and topical humor, where a gay audience would appreciate the classical humor that we have,” Rodnizki said. “There are lots of influences from old-time musical theater. As a gay member of the company, it’s fun to see my collegiate bawdy humor exercised on one end but, at the same time, the more Patti Lupone diva-ish classical-theater side as well. All audiences can get something wonderful out of this production.”
“I don’t think we do anything that is offensive,” Martinez added. “My friends who are mostly LGBT or allies absolutely love the show. There is nothing that wouldn’t be appealing to them. It’s just a night of entertainment. We care about performing and theater. We are committed. There are no ulterior motives or message that wouldn’t be appealing to an audience.”
Mask and Wig presents “Wishful Sinking” through April 4 at Mask and Wig Clubhouse, 310 S. Quince St. For more information or tickets, visit www.maskandwig.com.