With a show consisting of a dash of “Shrek,” a bit of “Legally Blonde” and a dollop of “West Side Story,” the fourth annual Bruins Care musical revue is looking to be quite a concoction.

The on-campus theater group Bruins Care has been putting on a musical theater show every year since its creation in 2009 by alumnus Richie Ferris, with the unifying goal of raising money for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS charity.

This year’s producer, fourth-year theater student Jen Fingal, said that she was drawn to the show’s charitable pursuit.

“The charity does really wonderful work, and it’s the Broadway and theater community coming together and trying to make a difference. What we’re trying to do is to add to that,” Fingal said.

Another goal of the group is to mesh together students from different areas of studies and give everyone the opportunity to perform and express their musical theater talents.

Fourth-year English and applied mathematics student and associate producer James Simenc said that everyone in the ensemble, including himself, shares a common love of musical theater.

“We have a combination of theater majors and non-theater majors. Back when Richie founded it, there wasn’t really much opportunity for non-theater majors to perform and for them to express that,” Simenc said.

It was the show’s opportunity to showcase musical talent that attracted fourth-year English

student Aaron Porchia to the show three years ago. Porchia also said that the group is first and foremost a collaborative environment.

“We get together and decide what shows we want to do songs from, and then we just dole out the parts so everyone has equal opportunity to be on stage. It’s about an ensemble and us working as a team to help raise money for charity,” Porchia said.

Fingal said the ensemble collaborated on a set list that would appeal to musical theater lovers and novices alike.

“We have acts ranging from high energy dance numbers to romantic ballads and fun dance numbers from ‘Rocky Horror (Picture Show).’ It’s very diverse and fun and versatile and (is) just a wide cross section of musical theater songs,” Fingal said.

Last year’s rendition of the song “Bend and Snap,” from the musical version of “Legally Blonde,” featured male performers dressed as women, but Fingal said that returning viewers shouldn’t expect to see guys in dresses this year.

“Unfortunately, there’s no cross-dressing this year. I think this year will be the first year without cross-dressing,” Fingal said.
Regardless, Fingal said watching the show develop from the audition phase to rehearsals to its final stage has been rewarding and hopes people will learn about the charity and the theater in general.

“We’ve been rehearsing since the school year started. It’s been very exciting to watch the show develop,” Fingal said. “The show will definitely give people an introduction to the power of arts and musical theater,” Fingal said.