MOON TOWNSHIP — It’s that time of year again, and the Pittsburgh area weather is in another one of its four seasons a week cycle. Students, faculty, and staff at Robert Morris University all know that people can wear a t-shirt and shorts one day, then a winter jacket and sweatpants the next around this time of year.

Not only is the weather shuffling its playlist all week long so will RMU Student Involvement on Sunday, April 18. Student Involvement will be hosting on the Nicholson front lawn its Best of RMU event. A whole day dedicated to different performances and Greek-Life activities.

One of those performances is the Musical Review of Edges to the Core theatre project led by Brent Alexander. He sat down for an interview with RMU Sentry Media’s own Nate Breisinger.

As the performance projects coordinator, Alexander shared how this project came to be.

Starting last semester, students would meet and be socially distanced to practice songs and monologues because “performing arts were especially hit hard because of COVID.” Alexander still wanted to have that performing aspect even though they had to adapt because of regulations restrictions.

While they were working on the project, RMU had a spike in cases, and the possibility of a socially distanced live performance was out of the question. But Alexander had some hope for the upcoming semester.

“We were thinking of a project to do in Spring as the weather got warmer and thinking maybe outside there would be a possibility for a performance,” Alexander said.

The performance in question would be a Musical Review written by Benj Pasel and Justin Paul while at the University of Michigan in the early 2000s. These two are the masterminds behind the famous “The Greatest Showman” and “Dear Evan Hanson” as RMU students will be performing the Musical Review of Edges to the Core.

Alexander explained that Musical Reviews are different from musicals because obtaining their rights is much easier than a Broadway show. Not only that, but when it comes to musicals, you cannot change anything or take anything that the playwright had put in. But with “Edges to the Core being a Musical Review,” Alexander and the students participating can take out songs and add other aspects to make it a complete show while still making it their own.

Students do not have to be physically there to perform either. One of the most interesting and exciting things Alexander is incorporating is the use of Virtual zoom performances. Students who are not present on campus this year are still involved and able to perform because incorporating virtual performances with in-person performances can be tricky and a great way to still get every student interested and a part of the fun.

“The nice thing about a musical review is that there is no storyline,” Alexander explains. This allows for more creative freedom and the fact that there is no performing hierarchy. There are no leads necessarily, but there is a mish-mash of songs and monologues edited and fitted together in a way that students and coordinators feel would be the best for their performance.

Be sure to check out Alexander and RMU students performing their hearts out this Sunday, April 18th, for a day full of activities and must-see student body performances.