A musical about calculus

There's a big calculus party, and all the functions are invited. ln(x) is talking to some trig functions when he sees his friend ex sulking in a corner.

ln(x) says, "What's wrong, ex?"

ex replies, "I'm so lonely!"

ln(x) says, "Well, you should go integrate yourself into the crowd!"

ex looks up and cries, "It won't make a difference!"

Did you think this joke was hilarious? Then the mathematical and statistical sciences department has a treat for you.

Calculus: The Musical! is coming to UC Denver, thanks to the math department. And the two-man acting troupe that puts on the show is accustomed to people showing up in costume—dressed as famous mathematicians.

Matheatre, the production company that puts on the musical, is based in Minneapolis, Minn. The company was founded by Marc Gutman and Sadie Bowman when they decided to go performing arts on math. The duo wrote the show and began performing it nationwide in 2006.

This year's performance will be acted by Sean Powell and Jae Boley, two of the actors who work for the company. The duo will be touring from Massachusetts to Utah, stopping at UCD on their way.

Mike Jacobson, department head of mathematical and statistical sciences, asked the troupe to perform at UCD after seeing them at Boulder's Fringe Festival. This will be the second annual performance at UCD, and Jacobson expects another great turnout—last year there were 200–300 attendees.

"The performance is free, and first come, first seated," he said. "I hope it's not a mad rush, but I'm going to fill the room until the fire marshal screams."
The musical is not just for advanced math geeks—in fact, Matheatre tries to make calculus more approachable and fun for all math students.

"The performance is enjoyable for people who know calculus and people who don't know calculus," Jacobson said. "[The musical] is a broader comment that we [math geeks] don't have a bunch of stuffed shirts and pocket protectors. We are normal people who can enjoy a good laugh."

Jacobson explained that the musical is not an overview of the rules of calculus. Instead, the musical is a comedic dive into the history of calculus.

Eric Sullivan, who teaches calculus at UCD, seemed to doubt the approachability for those who have never been exposed to calculus.

"Someone who hasn't taken calculus is probably not going to get all the jokes," he said. "But, it is still certainly entertaining."

"Plus," added Sullivan, "I would venture to guess that a large amount of your readers have taken a calculus class."

Jacobson said high school students would be attending, as well. The content is not for higher-level math students, but some background is necessary.

Elizabeth Untiedt, doctoral candidate in applied mathematics, said that one class is all you need. "Taking a pre-calculus or calculus class would be enough to understand the musical," she said. "You don't have to be good at calculus, but if you don't know what a derivative is, you probably won't get a lot of the jokes."

Both Sullivan and Untiedt, who attended last year's performance, agreed that Calculus: The Musical! was an overall fun experience, and worth going to. "It's a pretty funny take on calculus," Sullivan said.

Unitiedt said that she was impressed by the musical because of the multimedia approach of the presentation.

"The actual performance is interesting for a few different reasons," she said. "One, it has a small cast—so they get to play a lot of different parts. Two, it gives a variety of musical genres, and three, there are all sorts of clever ways that take the concept from calculus and turn them into songs."

For the poor College of Liberal Arts and Sciences kids—who could not wait to never take math again after algebra—this shit's going to go straight over your head. So Wikipedia the history of calculus before going.

Jacobson also mentioned that "there is a Rocky Horror Picture Show quality about the performance—audience members will come dressed as Leibnitz, Freud, Newton, and sing along during certain musical numbers."

However, Jacobson said the costumes and singing has yet to occur at a UCD performance—and that seems unacceptable. So dress up—dress like Newton, or Sophie Germain (for all you feminist math geeks), or draw a diagram of Ceva's Theorem all over your face. No need to worry if someone will think you're a nerd—you'll be in good company.

Calculus: The Musical!
4:30 p.m., March 12
North Classroom Room 1130