The Harvard Law School annual parody musical to be exact! The show opened last Friday and closed Tuesday night. We had at least 3 sold out shows. This year's musical was based on Lord of the Rings, called Lord of the Deans: The Return of the Ranking. It was about a bunch of little lawbits (hobbits) who have to journey to Mount D.O.S (Mount Doom) to try to destroy the Ames Plaque* (the Ring), accompanied by a cast of characters including Subciter, the brooding long-lost President of the BSA** (Aragorn), Lexislas***, the elf who wants to work in public interest (Legolas), Gymli, the dwarf who is going into transactional biglaw and spends a lot of time at the gym (Gimli), and Boromerely-Passing, a member of the student government (Boromir). Occasionally they're also aided by Professor Lazdalf (Gandalf) and HLRwen (Arwen), the two-elf from the House of Gannett****. Meanwhile Dean Sarumanning (Saruman) has sent out his army of DORCS (orcs) to try to capture the lawbits and acquire the plaque in order to restore Harvard's place as the #2 law school, under the influence of the Dean Lord Sellsron***** (Sauron).
I was in none of those bits. I danced in several of the musical numbers, and they gave me a several featured dancing positions. I did some sort of trick in every dance I was in. It was super fun. Parody takes place every February and is a great opportunity to ignore law school for a while and indulge in our creative side. Next year I hope to join the writer's room and choreograph.
28423168_1689889694382375_2148645795884050239_o.jpg
*The Ames Plaque is a real thing. Every year there is a moot court competition that takes place in the Ames Court in one of our buildings. You're required to participate in the spring of your first year for the fake version of the competition. It's part of your writing class. Starting your 2L year you can participate in the real competition, the final round which is judged by actual judges (last year including John Roberts). If you win, your name is engraved on the Ames Plaque and it's considered a huge accomplishment.
**The BSA is the Board of Student Advisers. 6 of them are assigned to each 1L section every year and they help teach the writing class and are generally handy resources for first-years. It's the second or third most prestigious organization on campus, depending on who you ask.
***He's names for Lexis, one of the three online case law databases available to students (and potentially lawyers depending on what the employer is willing to pay for).
****The HLR is the Harvard Law Review, the most prestigious organization on campus. Its members are a bunch of nerds either with outstanding grades or who are outstanding writers or both. You have to apply for it with a "write-on" the week after spring finals your first year. Gannett House is where the HLR offices are located.
*****He's named for Dean Manning, the new dean of Harvard Law, also known for clerking for Scalia and leaning conservative. The DORCS in the play is the Dean's Organization for the Reading of Conservative Statutes. Dean Lord Sellsron is named for Dean Sells, the dean of students (also, she's female). This year in the US News World Rankings Harvard dropped from its usual place of #2 (after Yale) to #3.
I was in none of those bits. I danced in several of the musical numbers, and they gave me a several featured dancing positions. I did some sort of trick in every dance I was in. It was super fun. Parody takes place every February and is a great opportunity to ignore law school for a while and indulge in our creative side. Next year I hope to join the writer's room and choreograph.
28423168_1689889694382375_2148645795884050239_o.jpg
*The Ames Plaque is a real thing. Every year there is a moot court competition that takes place in the Ames Court in one of our buildings. You're required to participate in the spring of your first year for the fake version of the competition. It's part of your writing class. Starting your 2L year you can participate in the real competition, the final round which is judged by actual judges (last year including John Roberts). If you win, your name is engraved on the Ames Plaque and it's considered a huge accomplishment.
**The BSA is the Board of Student Advisers. 6 of them are assigned to each 1L section every year and they help teach the writing class and are generally handy resources for first-years. It's the second or third most prestigious organization on campus, depending on who you ask.
***He's names for Lexis, one of the three online case law databases available to students (and potentially lawyers depending on what the employer is willing to pay for).
****The HLR is the Harvard Law Review, the most prestigious organization on campus. Its members are a bunch of nerds either with outstanding grades or who are outstanding writers or both. You have to apply for it with a "write-on" the week after spring finals your first year. Gannett House is where the HLR offices are located.
*****He's named for Dean Manning, the new dean of Harvard Law, also known for clerking for Scalia and leaning conservative. The DORCS in the play is the Dean's Organization for the Reading of Conservative Statutes. Dean Lord Sellsron is named for Dean Sells, the dean of students (also, she's female). This year in the US News World Rankings Harvard dropped from its usual place of #2 (after Yale) to #3.
Comment