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A large group invaded Barber’s Crossing as threatened, where we enjoyed good food and companionship. We then returned to Hogan 514 for the “cabaret-style” evening of fun involving veterans of Bruce’s many theatrical productions at Holy Cross — Senior Class Play, ACT, Shoestring Players, you name it. Tony Ashur ‘82 was at the piano to provide the accompaniment. As we assembled, we received word that Bruce’s mother, Helen Miller, had passed away earlier in the day. She had been admitted to hospital a couple of days beforehand. We held a minute’s silence at the start of the cabaret, in memory of her and of Bruce, and we know that they were watching over us together.
First on the program was The Fantasticks, which Bruce had presented at HC on 4 occasions. Members of his most recent cast (March 2003), Kristin Heimsath ‘06 and Shawn McKay ‘06, sang “They were you,” and told tales of wheeling Bruce around in his wheelchair – he had broken his ankle shortly before the production took place.
Next came Nicole (Bard) Lian ‘96 and Elissa (Gotha) McMeniman ‘93 to perform “Mr. Snow,” from Carousel.
The first item representing Bruce’s love of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan was performed by Dana Knox ‘97, Craig Cormier ‘95 and Braden Mechley ‘92: “If you go in” from Iolanthe.
From West Side Story we heard “Tonight,” from Donna (Schweinberger) Himmelberg ‘90 and Guiseppe Giglio ‘91; then Jenna (Dempsey) Danis ‘94 and Shawn McKay ‘06 sang “One hand, one heart.”
Returning to Gilbert & Sullivan, we were next entertained by the Three Little Maids From School: Kristyn Snyer ‘90, Donna (Schweinberger) Himmelberg ‘90 and Elissa (Gotha) McMeniman ‘93. Kristyn then performed “The sun, whose rays are all ablaze.” All fromThe Mikado, of course.
Betsy (Bodenrader) Durning ‘91 and Darren Farrington ‘90 then donned suitable attire to entertain us with “Honey Bun,” from South Pacific.
“Not while I’m around,” sang Craig Cormier ‘95 and Nicole (Bard) Lian ‘96 in their scene from Sweeney Todd.
A highly entertaining and laughter-provoking extract from My Fair Lady followed, with Dana Knox ‘97, Nicole (Bard) Lian ‘96 and Braden Mechley ‘92 in fine form.
More Gilbert & Sullivan followed – this time The Pirates of Penzance, the opera which Bruce was editing for the Broude Critical Edition and for his PhD at the University of Birmingham, UK. Paul Houghtaling ‘83 treated us to a highly individual rendition of “I am the very model of a modern Major-General,” invoking Bruce’s help from the heavens! Jenna (Dempsey) Danis ‘94 and Braden Mechley ‘92 performed “Ah, leave me not to pine.”
H.M.S. Pinafore, the opera from which Bruce discovered a missing song, provided the last selections of the evening. Kristen Plumley ‘87 showed her vocal talents to their best advantage in “The hours creep on apace.” Then she was joined by Eric Ensey in “Refrain, audacious Tar.” The final number in this selection featured Kristen, Braden Mechley ‘92 and Paul Houghtaling ‘83 in “Never mind the why and wherefore.”
Members of the Light Opera Company presented a trailer for their upcoming production, She Loves Me: Meghan Gayton ‘04 sang “Ice Cream,” Kristin Heimsath ‘06 and Courtney Correnti ‘05 performed “I don’t know his name,” and Sean Dillon ‘04 gave us “Tonight at Eight.”
The entertainment was rounded off with representatives of all Bruce’s previous productions of The Fantasticks singing “Try to remember.”
We drank a champagne toast to Bruce, and there was plenty of reminiscence and gossip to round off the evening. It’s a pity nobody photographed the trash can full of empty beer bottles outside Fran Taylor’s office door 
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