The 122nd Annual Varsity Show: A King’s College
Co-Composer / Co-Lyricist / Music Director
A full-length original musical satire examining how to navigate imposter syndrome, oppressive historical legacies, and the occasional witch hunt.
The Varsity Show is Columbia’s oldest performing arts tradition and has produced such notable alumni in the arts as Rogers & Hammerstein, Tom Kitt (Next to Normal), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), Greta Gerwig, Kate McKinnon, and many others.
More information at https://www.thevarsityshow.com/past-shows/v-122-2016
One day, people will tell my story
I won’t be stuck in this purgatory
And I won’t be just one of many
When you see me, you’ll know:
It’s the Notorious Jenny!
A King’s College
First generation college student Jenny Park never truly felt like she belonged at Columbia University, with its intimidating legacy of historically “great” alumni. So when word gets out that some students were admitted by mistake, she’s not the only one to get a bad case of impostor syndrome. Soon the whole school is turned upside down as a frazzled administration and an desperately insecure student body turn to the past for the solution to their problems, putting their trust in Columbia’s legendary founder, King George II, who returns to restore the school to its former glory, expel the falsely admitted students, and “Make Columbia Great Again.” With a witch hunt brewing and paranoia on the rise, no one is safe!
In a school literally haunted by the legacies of dead white men, will Jenny learn to stand up for her right to exist at Columbia, and follow in the footsteps of her legal idol, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (AKA the Notorious RBG)? Or will she succumb to the cut-throat campus culture? (And what’s the deal with that cute green-haired girl leading the Resistance?) Watch if you dare, but just beware: the past is never done with you.