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WICS - Merging Creativity with the Business Side

By Misha Goussev, April 2003

Previously published in The Wharton Journal (www.whartonjournal.com)

Do artistic creativity and self-expression belong to the world of finance and sober business acumen? In the pre-Enron era the answer to this question would have been a definite ‘yes’. One possible application for such combination of talents, Creative Accounting, was an acceptable practice in some very well known corporations. In the world of Media & Entertainment, however, the line between the Business and Creative sides of the operations has always been clearly marked and seldom crossed. Each side presumably required a unique set of expertise and talents, which the other side presumably lacked. This might be true in the world of the “big entertainment”, but certainly not in the Wharton MBA environment, as has been successfully demonstrated by two 100% student run productions – the Follies and, still young, but quickly becoming the school’s legacy, the Wharton International Cultural Show (WICS).

I’ve had a privilege to be involved with WICS from its very birth, as a member of the founding team, the Artistic Director and a performer. As some of my friends had already done so, I would like to offer my perspective on how it all started, and share some memories and insights. Looking back, I have to confess that the work on the show was the most powerful experience I’ve gained while being an MBA student (besides the DIP week, of course), which provided the most revealing insights into the true spirit of the school and the richness of talents of the student body.

In the beginning there was an Idea, which was introduced to the world by Nimish Doshi, the Producer of the first show. Despite the magnificent end result, the beginning of WICS could be compared to that of a typical start up in a garage. The lack of capital or experience was well compensated by the excess of energy, dream-like vision and contagious desire to create. Even though Wharton environment provided virtually unlimited opportunities for all tastes to get involved and apply one’s talents, the idea of the show immediately struck me as truly unique and extraordinary. So, when I received an e-mail, which Nimish sent to the entire school, introducing the idea of the show, I was hooked immediately (proving that the direct marketing works). The first meeting, however, was less than spectacular and produced only half a dozen of volunteers and as many suggestions for the cultural acts. Even though the energy was high, it was a poor substitute for a robust strategy, which would somehow fill up the thousand seats of the Irvine Auditorium. A couple of subsequent meetings could also be compared to an attempt to navigate a spaceship by a team of intelligent and overly optimistic beings, but without any relevant experience. But we learned quickly, as in any other Wharton team assignment, and soon the structure of the show started to come to life. Synergy, common goal and “just do it” attitude seemed to be taking us the long way…

But not all the way! During our first technical visit to the Irvine Auditorium facilities (the venue for the first show) it became apparent that no teamwork or synergy would replace at least some hands-on experience. It is no accident that I compared our show to a spaceship. The beautiful and majestic building of the Irvine Auditorium itself, with its dozens of lights, mysterious backstage quarters, cathedral-like ceiling and the glassed operator’s deck positioned forty some feet above the audience with a couple of spot lights shooting down on the stage, in my mind resembled a giant spaceship from StarTraks. The building certainly had a personality and many stored memories of past performances. The opportunity to bring it to life for one night and become a part of its history was both exciting and intimidating. The need for someone with prior experience in running stage productions became obvious and, given the proximity of the show, quite urgent.

Johan D’Costa entered the WICS world as a savior. Not only did he have plenty of experience in being a technical lead on other productions, but he also agreed to spend thirty minutes of his time to give us a crash course on how to do it. The thirty minutes turned into at least fifty hours. At this point it is hard to tell what made him sacrifice himself – the passion for the artistic expression of the MBA students or a cute member of the WICS management team – the end result: he was ours. Only after he completed the first draft of the “tech cues” (the actual step-by-step technical script of show), I realized how far we would have been from the success without his precious knowledge.

It is worth saying a few words about the first and the only full rehearsal, which was supposed to take place one day before the show, but in reality never happened. Really. The day of the production was the first time when the show ran in its entirety. Of course it was not planned this way. We simply underestimated the art of the union workers (all stage workers by law belong to a union) to do nothing but appear to be very busy. The logistical nightmare of coordinating twenty-five acts with more than a hundred of performers, most of whom had never been on stage, took its toll as well. For whatever reason, we never had enough time to run the show through, and, therefore, we were not sure whether it would actually run through.

The show was nearly sold out (about 90% of the sits sold). I remember watching the Auditorium filling up with a mixture of feelings: elation, haze, pride, and … curiosity. After all, all of us, despite being the organizers (and many the performers) were also the audience who came to see the show for the first time. I remember keeping on thinking to myself, “It either will be a spectacular success or a spectacular failure…” Somehow, after all the work we had put into it, I felt very calm about either option.

The audience was crying, screaming, yelling, going nuts… Some acts were more spectacular than other, but all together they created an unbelievable experience of color, energy, music and variety - variety of cultures, costumes, personalities, emotions. It was truly a celebration of life. The performances were so professional, that it was hard to believe that the students or their partners did it all. The striking fact about the performance was an anticipated union on the audience with each act. Since each member of the cast had his or her friends, classmates or family members present in the audience, it was almost as amazing to watch the reaction of the viewers as the performance itself. Contributing to the overall atmosphere was a healthy competition among different cultural groups for the loudest support for its act. After all, it was an International Cultural Show. As the show was going on, few people would have been aware of the intense communication taking place via the intercom system, which connected the technical team with the back stage managers. Sometimes I wish we had had it recorded for the history, but frankly most of it probably would not have been printable. Jokes aside, we did experience virtually no technical glitches, not to count a lonely spot light going on at a wrong time only once.

It is hard to believe that this year the show is celebrating its third anniversary. It seems to have acquired the life of its own and is rapidly building its alumni base. Many prospective students from the Wharton Welcome Weekend of 2002 mentioned that they had chosen Wharton over other schools after they saw the show. I am not surprised. In my opinion, this is the kind of people and personalities the school attracts and who, in turn, make the school so exceptional.

I look at the show much more than simply an organized way to have fun on stage after classes. I view it as an opportunity to learn how to use business skills, creative thinking, intelligence, teamwork and communication to enable visions become realities, to inspire, to create and to make an impact. After all, I believe that all great creations of humanity begin with inspiration and dreams, which are part of the human nature. I also believe that the technical competence, hard work and business acumen in many cases are important prerequisites to making them happen. WICS was just one example of how business and creative sides can work together and produce synergy. I would like to thank all my teammates and everybody involved in this very unique production for making it happen and keeping in alive as years go by!▪