Students get dose of 'Reality'

Songs like “Facebook Stalker” and “Take Time for Yourself” won’t be topping the Billboard charts anytime soon, but for the thousands of new undergraduates that filled the stands of Madison Square Garden this Welcome Week, they stole the show.

This year marked the fourth annual performance of “Reality Show: NYU,” a student-performed musical addressing health and wellness issues at NYU.

In 2005 the university introduced “Reality Show” to the community to bring helpful resources to NYU students in an exciting and effective way. Since then, the show has become a tradition at NYU, and attendance is mandatory for all incoming freshmen. Covering everything from sexually transmitted diseases to suicide, “Reality Show” touches on serious issues students face with an even balance of comedy and gravity.

All of the show’s cast members spent their summer writing, producing and practicing the show. Cast member Matt Gehring called it “easily the most important and effective piece of theater I’ve ever been a part of.”

“Beside making people laugh and feel comfortable with their new surroundings, it gets out a very important message: Someone is here for you,” he said. “It’s easy to forget that, and I’m glad I can give that just as I got it my freshman year.”

Director Elizabeth Swados, a Tisch faculty member, is especially thrilled with the show’s message.

“Not only is it theatrical and alive, but it has a practical use,” she said. “It’s theater that has a job. It’s funny, it’s sophisticated and it’s not do-gooder.” 

Most of the show’s humor is racy, and the language gets a little bawdy at times, something many new students might not have expected.

“The language in the show definitely surprised me a lot when I was a freshman,” said Chris Chianesi, now a senior at Tisch School of the Arts. “It’s definitely very out-there and in-your-face.”

Throughout the rehearsing and performing process, the cast was widely inspired by Swados’ direction. Her résumé includes both playwriting and directing, and her honors include three Obies and five Tony nominations.

“I always wanted to make theater like a rock concert — that incredible energy you find when you go to a show,” Swados said. “When theater can have that energy and still feel like theater, something’s being done right.”

Because of its popularity, “Reality Show” is not limited to the annual Welcome Week performance. The cast puts on a special friends and family performance, giving the performers another opportunity to show off their hard work to audiences that may not have seen the earlier show.

“We want to spread the cheer around to everybody,” Swados said. “I’m incredibly grateful for the chance to make this. I just think it is a really great gig, and I love it.”


Maritza Montanez is a contributing writer. E-mail her at nyuarts@nyunews.com.