Cholmondley's was overflowing with laughter and song on Wednesday night when the people involved in the upcoming play "Dinner With Friends" catered to a completely filled coffee house. The coffeehouse featured the talents of Jay Stone '05, Michel Lamblin '04, comedy troupe Boris' Kitchen and a cappella groups Proscenium, Up the Octave and Starving Artists. It was a great start to the semester for Starving Artists. With more people trying to pack into Cholmondely's than could fit, there was not an empty seat in the house. The crowd went crazy as the core of last year's group began to sing Jimmy Eat World's chart topping hit "The Middle," but there was something missing.

The group stopped, paused and "realized" that it was time to add new voices to the already wide-range of talent that the group possesses. With that introduction, Katherine Perch '05, Monica Katz-Lapides '06, Gayle Wayne '06, and Nicholas Barasch '06 jumped on stage. Take two. This time "The Middle," soloed by by Andy Smith '03, boasted as round of a sound as ever as the group harmonized and swayed to the rhythm.

The hits continued with Matthew Cohen's '03 soulful rendition of "Walk on the Ocean" by Toad and the Wet Sprocket and Bert Huang's '04 inspired version of Radiohead's "Just." The crowd sang along and swayed back and forth in what little space was left to move around in. After Dara Wald's '04 soulful performance of "A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys was over, it seemed as if the night was coming to a close. However, the best performance of the night was yet to come.

Craig Lareau '04 had spent the night towering above the rest of the group and singing harmonies in the back, but now it was his time to shine. As he awkwardly stepped to the front of the stage, it did not appear as if he really belonged there. All doubt was erased as soon as he sang the first few words of Soul Decision's "Faded," and the crowd went absolutely wild.

"I'm kinda faded but I feel alright / thinkin' about making my move tonight / I can't pretend that you're only my friend when you're holding my body tight," Lareau crooned. All of a sudden, everyone forgot about the heat and just began dancing and laughing to the music. Just when it seemed as if the song could not get any better, Solomon Sheena '03 stepped up and rapped the final verse, and it became the perfect ending to a wonderful night.

Earlier in the night, the seven girls of Up the Octave rocked the stage singing such hits as Vanessa Carleton's "Thousand Miles." Proscenium also had a great set, harmonizing to the tunes of "Kiss the Girl," "Try to Remember" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him."

Intermingled with the a cappella groups, Boris' Kitchen's comedy routines were a nice way to round out the night. They featured a range of humor, from a skit featuring mothers on crack to a commercial advertising the newest line in educational Barbie Dolls. "You can buy Susan B. Anthony and her horse, Suffrage," promised the announcer.

Also featured was an afternoon special with the premise "Your Hair Sucks and You're Ugly."

The night proved that this will be a promising semester for all of Brandeis's young talents.