The Big Bank Opera, Act 3 (of 4)

From the Improbable Research Collection #126: The Big Bank Opera

("Big Bank Theory")

A banker explains the whole history of big banks - where they came from, how they got big, and what happened to them. She tells the complete story of The Big Bank Theory. It's remarkably similar to The Big Bang Theory that explains the history of the universe. (The music is "Una Voce Poco Fa" from Rossini's "Barber of Seville".)

This is Act 3 of "The Big Bank Opera", in which stylish bankers in a swanky Wall Street bar explain the explosive rise and fall of big banking and big bankers.

This mini-opera has music by L.v. Beethoven & G. Rossini, and words by Marc Abrahams. Starring Maria Ferrante and Ben Sears, and Brandon Grimmett, conducted by David Stockton. The premiere, seen here, was on October 1, 2009 as part of the 2009 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University. Bar patrons: Benoit Mandelbrot, Stephen Wolfram, John Barrett, Wade Adams, Nobel laureates Rich Roberts, Wolfgang Ketterle, Dudley Herschbach, Paul Krugman, Roy Glauber, Frank Wilczek, Martin Chalfie, Orhan Pamuk, and William Lipscomb; and many Ig Nobel Prize winners.