Thirty years of performances to benefit the Cleveland community? That’s something to sing about.
This weekend, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine will present the 30th annual Doc Opera, a student-run variety show composed of musical performances, parodied songs and dances—all written, directed and performed by students and faculty from multiple health graduate programs. This year’s show, themed “A Song of Bugs and Drugs,” will be held Friday, Dec. 12, with cocktail hour at 6 p.m. and the show at 7 p.m. at the Masonic Auditorium (3615 Euclid Ave.).
Doc Opera was started in 1984 by four medical students who created a venue for students to express their creativity outside the classroom, while also giving back to the community by raising donations from the show.
Typically, the show features medical students. But this year, the talent pool was opened to all professional health students, including those from the School of Medicine, the Lerner College of Medicine, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the School of Dental Medicine.
“We want to promote interprofessionalism in the health campus,” said second-year medical student David Dornblaser, one of the show’s four directors. “More than 150 students are involved in the show from several different schools on campus.”
All proceeds benefit the Student-Run Free Clinic at Case Western Reserve. Attendance in recent years has topped more than 500 per show, enabling tens of thousands of dollars to be donated to the free clinic each year.
Tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for students and $15 for those 18 and younger. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased online. Tickets may also be bought at the door with cash or check only.
A dessert reception and after-party will follow the show.
For more information and to learn how to donate to the free clinic, visit the event website or Facebook page.