How the Grinch Stole the Yale System

Not to worry, theater-goers, the Yale system is alive and well. In a show that evoked Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, and Mean Girls, the Class of 2017 poked fun at each other (gunners, M.D./Ph.D. wannabes, global health nuts) as well as their faculty. Among those who made the cut for affectionate ribbing were Shanta Kapadia, M.B.B.S., lecturer in surgery (anatomy); Emile Boulpaep, M.D., professor of cellular and molecular physiology; Auguste H. Fortin VI, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine; Margaret Bia, M.D., FW ’78, professor of medicine; Nancy R. Angoff, M.P.H. ’81, M.D. ’90, HS ’93, associate dean for student affairs; Lawrence Rizzolo, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery (gross anatomy); and Jaideep Talwalkar, M.D., HS ’04, assistant professor of medicine.

The Grinch, embittered over an ill-fated longing for Angoff 30 years earlier, comes down from his perch in East Rock of Who Haven with a plot to destroy the Yale system. He steals students’ iPads, stethoscopes and hammers, and the codes that allow them to take tests in anonymity. Despite his efforts, however, the students are doing just fine without all the things that were taken from them. Without her iPad, one comments, she actually pays attention to lectures! The Grinch, played by John Andrews, realizes that his efforts have come to naught, that the Yale system has survived. The heart of the Yale system, he comes to see, is the Yale student.

The show ends with a rousing finale, Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off, sung by Lauren Provini as Cindy-Lou-Who-Swift, with appearances by the entire cast and crew.