With the lights up and curtains parted, March 14 meant it was time to get Skule™ Nite 1T2 started.
From opening night to March 17, bursts of laughter and loud cheers emanated from the Hart House Theatre. The room was brimming with students, faculty, staff, alumni and proud parents – all brought together to watch the cast and crew pour their hearts out on stage.
Skule™ Nite has become a much-beloved U of T Engineering tradition, and one of the biggest annual events on campus. This year marks the 91st anniversary of the student-run musical revue and comedy sketch show, and they most certainly did not disappoint.
Cast and crew – most of whom were from U of T Engineering, but also included students from Law and Arts & Science – weaved together a show that featured students in programmable glow-in-the-dark suits, 10 expertly conducted musical numbers and 22 hilarious sketches that even saw engineering programs battle each other as super heroes.
As the program pamphlet warns viewers: “Skule™ Nite is written with the sole purpose of making laughs and dropping jaws,” the show saw them making fun of engineering students’ fear of failing exams, the seemingly impossible deadlines, the rivalries between programs and light-hearted jabs at Arts & Science students.
Skule™ Nite is a remarkable feat, considering students were balancing heavy course-work while undertaking a large production that had them attending to every minute detail, from sketch writing, orchestra arranging, to light designing, to choreography, to costume sewing, and even vocal directing.
“It’s honestly like nothing else I’ve ever experienced,” said Jonny Sun (EngSci 1T1 + PEY), Skule™ Nite Director. He and the Skule™ Nite members had been crafting the show since last May. And on the weekend before their big debut, they performed four run-throughs of the two-and-a-half hour show.
After nearly a year’s worth of work to get Skule™ Nite perfect, it was no wonder that the highlight for Sun was the curtain going up on opening night. “There’s something really special about hearing the audience react to something you’ve worked on for so long, for the first time,” he said, adding, “The opportunity to do something this creative is so great and valuable in engineering, and I loved every minute of working on this show.”
