This week, justArts&Culture spoke with Adam Fleishaker ’21, a tenor and publicist of Proscenium, about the  a cappella club’s ProSCREAMium 2019 event held on Nov. 1.

JustArts&Culture: What was your role in putting together this event?

Adam Fleishaker: I am a tenor and publicist of Proscenium. I make our social media posts, posters and graphics, having fun making puns and ways to engage with our audience such as interactive Snapchat filters. I love the role as it combines humor and professionalism, being able to spread the word about the group while making people smile is an awesome experience.

JAC: The Halloween concert is a traditional event for Proscenium. What makes it different from other a cappella concerts? Did you guys do anything different compared to the past years?

AF: ProSCREAMium is a tradition and one that typically caps off our first semester as a teaser for our semester show while acting as a nice spooky event to take away from midterms and mid-semester stress. It is different in that we perform Halloween-themed, broodier/spookier songs; being around Halloween, it’s always fun to see a turnout of a variety of the Brandeis community in costume. In comparison to previous years, last year we had Too Cheap for Instruments open the show for us as a featuring act, and we continued that into this year’s event as well. We also introduced a new song, The Ballad of Sara Berry, originating from a “musical exhibition” called 35MM, beautifully arranged (and partially soloed) by one of our members Kat Lawrence, which was really exciting to work with.

JAC: How was the turnout this year?

AF: The turnout this year was very encouraging; although we didn’t get one of the chapels which have in the past added to the atmosphere of the event, we practically filled our venue of Pollack! It was nice to see a bunch of new faces in the audience as well, being in the group my fifth semester now.

JAC: This is the second year Proscenium and Too Cheap For Instructments worked together for the Halloween concert. Tell me a bit about doing a concert with another a cappella group.

AF: Working with other a cappella groups is a great opportunity. Brandeis has such a strong a cappella community and being able to provide a variety of sound and genre to our audience and bringing together a bunch of talented musicians greatly adds to events we’ve held. In having Too Cheap for Instruments for ProSCREAMium last year, and subsequently holding a newbie show Proscenium’s Cheap Giraffes with Too Cheap for Instruments as well as Rather Be Giraffes, we’ve been able to provide a bunch of great a cappella performers all in one place. With regards to ProSCREAMium, Too Cheap for Instruments has always been a pleasure to work with; they bring such a uniquely different and strong sound to any collaboration.

JAC: Who had the best costume this year?

AF: The best costume for me is split between Jacob Krah, who went as a Minion, and our member Rosie Sentman’s Beetlejuice costume which she made.

JAC: Anything else you want to add or tell the readers?

AF: I’d tell readers to be sure to check out our social media, Proscenium A Cappella on Facebook and Instagram, to hear about future events such as our semester show, with information coming soon!

—  Luke Liu

— Editor’s Note: Editor Noah Zeitlin and staff writer Caylie Jeruchimowitz are members of Proscenium.