 |
|
||||
|
|
Original Doc Opera performers return for 20th-anniversary show
His guitar was in good working order when Doc Opera founder Charlie Goldberg, M.D., and other alumni returned to Cleveland to perform in the 20th-anniversary show.
Doc Opera founder Charles Goldberg, M.D., a 1989 alumnus of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, returned with three other alumni to perform a medley at this year’s 20th-anniversary show, April 2 at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square Center, downtown Cleveland. Since 1986, Doc Opera has been an annual event during which School of Medicine students lighten their lives by parodying their school experiences and expressing creative talents not readily apparent in the classroom. Over the past 20 years, the performance has grown from a simple, low-budget “rock opera” show held in a campus auditorium to a $25,000 multimedia presentation including song-and-dance numbers, videotaped skits, and a live band of medical students and performed at a major venue in the city. Students spend several months planning, producing, choreographing and rehearsing. Dr. Goldberg, who practices emergency medicine in San Francisco, was joined by 1988 alumna Ruth Fogler, M.D., of Orrington, Me.; and 1989 alumni Robert Mack, M.D., of Oak Park, Ill., and Dianne Schubeck, M.D., of Shaker Heights, Ohio, all original Doc Opera performers. They sang a clerkship-inspired medley that debuted at the third Doc Opera. Noting that the students performed “amazingly,” Dr. Goldberg said he was “shocked” at the high level of student talent on display. The show also included appearances by faculty members and Ralph I. Horwitz, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. Doc Opera serves not only as a creative outlet for the medical students but also as a fundraiser enabling the students to give back to the community in which they practice and learn. This year’s event, attended by more than 1,100 people, raised $2,000 for the Free Clinic of Cleveland. —Lois A. Bowers |
||||
