The ''Harvard Law School Parody'' is an annual parody musical put on by students at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. Over the Parody's week-long run every spring, more than half of Harvard Law School's entire student body attends the show.
History
The Harvard Law School Drama Society dates back to 1961. During its existence, the Drama Society has performed a variety of humorous pieces focused on the law school experience, including musical revues and sketch comedy shows. Since the late 1980s, the Drama Society has focused exclusively on the Parody. Recent Parody themes have included The Hark Knight (referring to Harvard Law School's Student Center, known by students as "The Hark," and a spoof of ''
The Dark Knight
''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and the second insta ...
''); Ocean's Replevin (a spoof of ''
Ocean's Eleven
''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The fil ...
''); Twilitem: De Novo Moon (a spoof of ''
Twilight
Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...
''); and Martha Minow and the J.D. Factory (referring to Harvard Law School Dean
Martha Minow
Martha Louise Minow (born December 6, 1954) is an American legal scholar and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She served as the Dean of Harvard Law School between 2009 and 2017 and has taught at the Law School sin ...
, and a spoof of ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was originally ...
''). More than 70 Harvard Law School Students participate in the Parody every year.
Past Performances
* 2005: ''Finding Nemo Contributorily Negligent''
* 2007: ''The Da Vinci Model Penal Code''
* 2008: ''Harry ‘Issue’ Spotter and the Goblet of Breyer''
* 2009: ''The Hark Night''
* 2010: ''Ocean's Replevin''
* 2011: ''Twilitem: De Novo Moon''
* 2023: ''Scooby Due Process''
2013 Theme - "The Wizard of Laws"
The 2013 Harvard Law Parody followed Dorothy, Scarebro, Tina Tinman, and Lionel as they attempted to obtain the comb of Wicked Witch
Noah Feldman
Noah R. Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American academic and legal scholar. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He is the author of 10 books, host of ...
. The HLS Drama Society performed five nights from March 2, 2013 through March 6, 2013. The show ran to generally positive reviews.
2014 Theme - "The Lawyer King: The Circle of Law"
The 2014 edition of the Parody followed Simba ("It's a very common name"), the 1L son of Dean Minfasa and heir-apparent to the Deanship, and Nala, another 1L, around the HLS campus during orientation, the 1L Cup games, on-campus interviews with law firms, the Ames Moot Court Room, and to the WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain, MA, as Professor Alan Dershowitz (filling the role of Scar) takes over the campus with the help of the Federalist Society (similar to the hyenas) instead of embarking on his impending retirement.
The show ran five nights from February 27, 2014 through March 3, 2014. The show featured unprecedented special lighting, audio, and video effects, including lines read by Dershowitz on recorded video as he had moved to New York after retiring in December 2013, as well as the most professor cameos to date in a Parody, including Professors Jon Hanson (filling a Timon-like role), Dean Alexa Shabecoff (in a Pumba-like role), Charles Nesson (filling a Rafiki-like role), Charles Ogletree (as himself), Jeannie Suk (as herself), Bob Bordone (as himself), Jonathan Zittrain (as himself), Dean Martha Minow (in a Mufasa-like role), Dean Ellen Cosgrove (as a Zazu-like character), Dean Mark Weber (as himself), Mark Tushnet (as himself), and Charles Fried (as himself). The show was met with a positive review from the HL Record, whose small readership was itself mocked in good taste by the show.
Additionally, the 2014 Parody moved away from a nearly 3-hour script to almost under 2 hours, while still employing 9 songs parodies and dance numbers:
The opening theme from the Lion King
R. Kelly's "Remix to Ignition" (as "Admission")
Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (as "What I Learned 1L")
Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" (as "Pay up, This Ain't Pro Bono")
NSync's "Tearin' Up My Heart" (as "Tearin' Up The Hark"—HLS's cafeteria)
Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (as "Posner Case")
Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" (as "Damn Cold Call")
Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" (as "Gunner's Paradise")
Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (as "Don't Stop Achievin'")
The dance arrangements ranged from full cast interpretative dances and five-man boy band moves to hip-hop and ballet.
2015 Theme - "Beauty v. The Beast"
The 2015 Harvard Law Parody told the story of Beast, a 3L cursed to relive 1L year until he could love another person more than he loved the Harvard name. The production bid farewell to outgoing Dean of Students Ellen Cosgrove and ran from February 27 to March 3. Morgan Menchata and Tyler Vigen produced the show, and Maggie Dunbar was head writer.
The show's songs included:
* Harvard Law (
Shake It Off
"Shake It Off" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album, ''1989''. Swift wrote the lyrics and composed the melody with producers Max Martin and Shellback. An uptempo dance-pop song featuring a saxop ...
)
* Screwed (
Rude
Rudeness (also called effrontery) is a display of actual or perceived disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette of a group or culture. These norms have been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted beha ...
)
* All About That Case (
All About That Bass
"All About That Bass" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, released on June 30, 2014, through Epic Records. The song was included on Trainor's debut extended play (EP) ''Title (EP), Title'' (2014) and her debut Title ( ...
)
* At the Charles (
When I'm Gone)
* The Ames Competition (
Eye of the Tiger
"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The song ...
)
* Gunner (
Fancy
Fancy may refer to:
Places
* Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement
* Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Music Albums
* ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970
* ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997
* ''Fancy'' (video ...
)
* Party with My BSA (
Party in the U.S.A.
"Party in the U.S.A." is a song recorded by American singer Miley Cyrus for her first extended play (EP) '' The Time of Our Lives'' (2009). It was released on August 4, 2009, by Hollywood Records as the lead single from the project. The son ...
)
* I Don't Know (
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
)
* Livin' on a Prayer (
Livin' on a Prayer
"Livin' on a Prayer" is a song by the American rock band Bon Jovi, and is the band's second chart-topping single from their third album '' Slippery When Wet''. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, the single, released in ...
)
2016 Theme - "Law Wars: Attack of the Loans"
In Law Wars, career adviser Darth Weber seeks to convert all the 1Ls to the Private Side of the law, and only an alliance of public interest students can stand against him. With the help of Obi-Jon Hanson and Hans YOLO, our heroes must infiltrate EIP, locate the reclusive Master Nesson (
Charles Nesson
Charles Rothwell Nesson (born February 11, 1939) is the William F. Weld Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and of the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society. He is author of ''E ...
), and do something about the giant laser on top of
Gropius that could blow them all up at any minute.
The 2016 production sold out twice, drawing an audience of over 1,700 from February 27 to March 1. The show was written under the direction of head writer Anna Byers, culminating in a 90-student production led by producers Mario Cuttone and Jason Joffe.
The set list included:
* Harvard Funk (
Uptown Funk
"Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson from his fourth studio album, ''Uptown Special'' (2015), featuring American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014 via dow ...
)
* Blank Schedule (
Blank Space
"Blank Space" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album, ''1989''. The song was released to US radio stations as the second single from ''1989'' on November 10, 2014, by Republic Records in partners ...
)
* SCOTUS (
Sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
)
* Outline (
Love Song
A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...
)
* Subciter (
Survivor)
* Admissions (
Hello
''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...
)
* Love After Law (
Believe
Believe may refer to:
*Belief, a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true, with or without proof for such proposition
*Faith, a belief in something which has not been proven
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
)
* BSA (
I'll Make a Man Out of You
"I'll Make a Man Out of You" is a song written by composer Matthew Wilder and lyricist David Zippel for Walt Disney Pictures' 36th animated feature film ''Mulan ''(1998). Appearing on the film's soundtrack '' Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Reco ...
)
* All Thanks to Harvard Law (
Like a Prayer)
2017 Theme - "Harry Palsgraf in Fantastic Briefs and Where to File Them"
Harry Palsgraf told the story of three intrepid 1Ls at Harvard School of Lawcraft and Resume Padding (Harry Palsgraf, Hermione Gunner, and Ron Westlaw) who must survive 1L and defeat an evil league of professors by finding the elusive Barrister's Outline. The evil professors succeed in resurrecting late Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectua ...
with the goal of returning the school to its original competitive, miserable intent. With the help of Dean Dumbleminow (
Martha Minow
Martha Louise Minow (born December 6, 1954) is an American legal scholar and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She served as the Dean of Harvard Law School between 2009 and 2017 and has taught at the Law School sin ...
) and a ragtag group of students and professors, Harry, Ron, and Hermione work to keep the law school from going back to letter grades and eternal subcites.
Harry Palgraf ran from Feb. 24 through 28. Ben Burkett led the writing team, and the show was produced by Molly Malavey and Cayman Mitchell, with Elisabeth Mabus as Assistant Producer.
The 2017 Parody setlist included:
* You Don't Know Your Bluebook Rules (
What Makes You Beautiful
"What Makes You Beautiful" is the debut single by English-Irish boy band One Direction. It served as their debut single and lead single from their debut studio album, '' Up All Night'' (2011). Written by Savan Kotecha and producer Rami Yacoub, ...
)
* This Girl Goes to Harvard (
Girl on Fire)
* Harvard Won't Fail Anyone (
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
)
* My Mumps (
My Humps
"My Humps" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fourth studio album '' Monkey Business'' (2005). It was written and produced by group member will.i.am. Musically, it's a hip hop and dance song structured as a duet ...
)
* Harvard Gunners (
Anaconda
Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized.
Description
Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to re ...
)
* Scandals (
Royals)
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www3.law.harvard.edu/orgs/drama/parody-2012/
Harvard Law School