What is "The Smoker"?

The Plot: From Into the Woods to Into the Wards

Into the Woods intertwines familiar fairy tales—such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk—as a couple of bakers journey to lift a curse and achieve their wish of starting a family. What begins as a playful quest through the woods soon reveals that wishes granted do not always bring happiness. As the characters confront the consequences of their actions after their “happily ever after,” the story shifts from fairy-tale fun to deeper questions of responsibility and community. 

Into the Wards tells the story of Paul Fine and Erin McKean in their quest to couples match for residency...platonically. While their journey starts as a (somewhat) straightforward pursuit of a recommendation letter, everything turns upside down when some uncharacteristic decisions from Michigan Medicine's leadership plunges the institution into chaos. Follow our characters as they save Michigan Medicine, and learn a thing or two about themselves along the way.

A Message from the Czars

Since 1918, Michigan medical students have been producing "The Smoker." In 1962 the Smoker became a musical due to the genius of Bob Bartlett (1939-2025), also known for inventing "ECMO," whatever that is. For over a century, the show has been conceived, written, performed, directed, and produced entirely by medical students. It is one way that we say both “Thank you” and “We love you” each year to not just our educators, but medical school itself.

Before anyone gets their white coat in a twist, producing comedy in a professional medical environment can be challenging. Comedy is all about making people laugh, but few enjoy being laughed at - particularly when they work long hours and devote themselves sacrificially to such a noble profession (with, totally unrelatedly, a large and steady paycheck). The Smoker takes inspiration from comedy greats before us - Monty Python, Key and Peele, Yo Gabba Gabba - to highlight the silliness, individuality, and ridiculousness present in ANY environment and ALL people, attendings and medical students alike. We laugh at ourselves, too!

Because the Smoker is a comedy show, some characters will be exaggerated or have features or personality traits invented for the sake of the plot and the show. As you enjoy the show, keep in mind that what you see on stage are characters whose words, actions, and motivations do not reflect the real physicians whose names we use. This includes our "bad guys." Any good piece of theater needs conflict, but since no villains exist at Michigan, we take liberties. 

Finally, we are excited to showcase the diverse faculty, staff and students that we have at the University of Michigan Medical School. We realize that the race, gender, ethnicity, ability, and/or sexual orientation of our individual cast members may not match that of the characters that they are portraying. While challenging, we hope that our portrayals will highlight the awesomeness of those who work here at the University.

So, dear faculty, if any of our jests cause a chuckle or raise an eyebrow, rest assured it is all in good spirit. After all, laughter is the best medicine. We appreciate your willingness to approach our show with a sense of humor. Enjoy!