The crowd at the Bostonians of Boston College’s Halloween show was not shy doling out standing ovations, and multiple star performances earned the honor.
The Bostonians opened and closed the night, but the show also featured performances from three other a cappella groups hailing from BC and beyond: the Villanova Spires, the Boston University BosTones, and the BC Dynamics.
Despite a lack of Halloween songs from any of the a cappella groups, the show on Saturday still captured the spirit of Halloween with decorations in the front of the room, Euphoria-esque purple lighting, and unique costumes sprinkled in the audience and among the performers.
The show began with the Bostonians’ performance of a mashup of dance-inducing, pop songs. Next up, the group performed renditions of Jordin Sparks’ “One Step At A Time,” with soloist Alice O’Connell, co-publicity director and MCAS ’24, and Ariana Grande’s “Greedy,” featuring lead vocalists Payton Allen, MCAS ’24 and Emma Schaufus, MCAS ’23.
The pop start to the show allowed the audience to quickly and easily connect to the familiar tunes that transformed in the a cappella form.
Next up were the BosTones, who performed a rendition of “Guidelines” by Brasstracks and a silk sonic mashup that starred a number of vocalists, all of them taking unique spins on some of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s iconic tracks.
As the BosTones exited the stage, the Villanova Spires entered and impressed the crowd right off the bat with a comfortably smooth performance of “West Coast” by OneRepublic. They then sang “Free Time” by Ruel. The song crescendoed as it progressed, leading to cheers as the Spires finished their time on stage.
The last guest performance of the night was by the BC Dynamics, who showed up in the best costumes of the night. The singers dressed up as Rick of Rick and Morty, Phineas of Phineas and Ferb, and a trio of well-dressed witches.
The BC Dynamics sang “Oh My God” by Adele, which garnered monstrous applause throughout the performance. The group’s take on “Yellow” by Coldplay was also a standout with a particularly stunning and layered a cappella background.
The Bostonians returned to finish off their show with a bang. Their performance featured impressive renditions of Reneé Rapp’s “In the Kitchen” and Panic! At The Disco’s “This is Gospel.” The night’s highlight, however, was undoubtedly the Bostonians’ mashup performance of La India’s “Enséñame a Olvidar” and Celine Dion’s “I Surrender.”
During the performance, Etinnah Garcia, business manager and MCAS ’23, stepped forward as the starring soloist. Her incredible vocals drew roars from the audience at multiple points throughout the song.
Garcia mastered both La India’s and Dion’s vocals, and her performance lit up even more with the help of the Bostonians. The shifting background vocals strengthened Garcia’s powerful and confident voice.
Garcia introduced the song and recounted how she shared her idea to mash together the songs with the other Bostonians.
“For me, it was very important to incorporate a Spanish song,” Garcia said. “I was very nervous because I wanted to do Spanish and English to not lose the audience and interest because of the language barrier.”
The Bostonians responded enthusiastically and put in the work in order to make the song and performance as authentic as possible, taking time to learn the correct pronunciations, Garcia said.
The groups’ preparation and dedication shone clearly throughout all of the performances of the night, and not a single song disappointed the eager crowd. Vocals rang through McGuinn 121 with clarity, and background layers from the a cappella echoed off the walls of the lecture hall.
The Bostonians announced at the end of their performance that the show’s entirety can be found on the Bostonians’ YouTube channel to enjoy even after the end of Halloweekend.
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