This weekend in the LaFortune Ballroom the Pasquerilla East Musical Company (PEMCo) will hold its annual PEMCo Revue, a series of performances from popular musicals surrounding the theme “Breaking Boundaries.” The proceeds from the student-run performance, which costs $5, will benefit The Music Village, a South Bend arts company that provides group music and dance lessons for a variety of ages. Junior Shannon Kirk, one of the show’s two producers, said PEMCo hopes to raise at least $1,500 for the organization. “We’re excited that we’re picking that one, especially this year, because it’s a pretty new organization and it promotes arts and education in schools, which we all benefitted from in high school and younger,” Kirk said. “In the past we’ve given to the Bald and the Beautiful, but we decided this year to give to a charity that was more in the style of what we do.” Kellirae Boann, executive director of The Music Village, said the funds contribute to a $5,000 fundraising goal, which the South Bend Community Center will then match. Proceeds will go toward an upgrade in computer equipment. Sophomore Joel Ostdiek, an actor in the show and an intern at The Music Village who originally suggested the organization as a beneficiary of the show, said The Music Village and PEMCo may continue to work together after the Revue. “We’re looking to have more Notre Dame students volunteer [at The Music Village], and they wanted to meet with students and see what would all be possible, so the details of that are very much in flux because it’s difficult to set that up,” Ostdiek said. “But it was cool that PEMCo is willing to have the funds go to [The Music Village] right away.” According to its Facebook page, the PEMCo Revue will feature songs from a variety of genres and musicals, including “Hairspray” and “RENT.” Kirk said the audition process for the show began before spring break and rehearsals began shortly after break, leaving about three weeks to put the show together. “This is the only kind of production that we can do in that short amount of time, because people come in with the pieces that they want to be in the show,” Kirk said. “Most of the songs are already prepared by auditioners. They audition as solos or duets or trios or small group numbers, so they’re already mostly set; they don’t have to learn it.” Ostdiek said the Revue provides individuals and groups with an opportunity to display their talents evenly. “It’s a lot of variety,” Ostdiek said. “The Revue showcases a lot of different voices, which is cool, because in a normal musical you have your principals and you kind of hear them all night, but in a revue it’s really spread out equally across the cast of who gets to do what, so it’s cool because you get to see everybody’s talent on display.”
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