Los Gatos Math Musical in a Day Makes Learning a Blast

If your New Year's resolutions include feeding your mind and having more fun, Jan Blasberg has the perfect evening activity for you this Saturday.

For the last decade, this uber-dedicated Fisher Middle School math teacher (more on her in Freaky Friday) has found a way to make math fun for her students.

The kids have been writing songs about the Greek theorem and the quadratic formula, and setting the lyrics to popular songs by the Beach Boys, Taylor Swift, The Beatles, and wait for it--The Village People.

This Saturday evening those ditties will come to life on stage at Los Gatos High School in a project called "Musical in a Day." 

Nothing short of a miracle, here's how "Musical" works: A dedicated group of LGHS seniors/Blasberg groupies--Call them "Blasbergies"--including Shannon Atherton, Dana Cullinane, Rodd Farhadi, Serena Koo and Lane Lyle--will write, cast, direct and perform an original musical based on a decade's collection of original song lyrics about algebra and geometry written by Fisher students—all with a 24-hour time frame.

The kids meet at 7 p.m. Friday, and stay up all night writing the musical. (Not even going to ask how much Red Bull will be consumed!) 

Meanwhile an all-call casting alert is posted on Facebook. First thing Saturday interested LGHS student actors show up at the theatre where the writers hand off the scripts to the kids. 

The actors memorize lines and rehearse all day. The show begins at 7 p.m.—exactly 24 hours from the start time.

A three-year "Play in a Day" veteran (this year marks the first musical) Lane Lyle is realistic about the task ahead.

"The beauty of the show is not the beauty of the show. It's the fact that we did it in one day. There's this rushed feeling, and an air of crazy that comes with doing it. The process is a long, stressful, difficult, hot mess, but we're really excited to do it."

Lyle and her fellow thespians promise an evening of racous fun. After all, how can you not have a blast listening to the Village People's YMCA tricked out with these lyrics …“Yo Man! So you're learning new math. I said Yo Man! The intellectual path. I said stop now! And let me help you out. So you can graph straight lines with no doubt." 

Along with the fun, the best part about this year's production is that proceeds will be split between the LGHS music department and an intermediate school on Staten Island deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The "Musical in a Day" performance is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12 at the LGHS theater. A $5 donation is suggested at the door.

For more details, visit the Facebook Page: LGHS Math Musical in a Day.