This Saturday, Brandeis students got the chance to go back to a more innocent time in their lives with the kindergarten-themed Rather Be Giraffes semester concert. Dressed in pigtails and jumpers and carrying stuffed animals, the group was the perfect picture of oversized kids, and their playful mood and role-playing put the audience in a cheerful mindset as the show started.Set up like a show-and-tell, the show started off with "Mr. Ben" (Ben Oehlkers '12) introducing the kindergarten class of "Rather Be Elementary School." First up for show-and-tell was Jeremy Weinberg '12, who presented his favorite stuffed giraffe, Lisa, only to suddenly realize she was missing! To help him express his grief, the group stood up to sing "Losing Lisa" by Ben Folds.

David Frederick '11 followed Weinberg, singing about why he was always sleepy in class with "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel. After that, student teacher Daniel Newman '09 took the stage to teach the students some life lessons about girls and love with "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182. The choreography for that number was quite advanced for kindergarten-aged kids, but they pulled it off pretty well!

Carrie Richman '09 followed Newman with a show-and-tell presentation about the days of the week ("Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton), and Jordan Talan '12 segued into intermission with "Zoot Suit Riot" by the Cherry Poppin Daddies.

Intermission, by the way, came complete with animal crackers and finger painting. Finger painting. You don't know fun until you've seen a bunch of college students freaking out over the opportunity to finger paint at an a cappella concert.

After intermission, Mr. Ben slowed things down with story time, singing "Return to Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins. Moving out of nostalgia and back into show-and-tell, Debra Fricano '10 tried to remember some "advice" Mommy had given Daddy the night before with "Like a Prayer" by Madonna.

Michele Dumoulin '12, Colleen Troy '12 and Maya Koenig '11 brought us back to age of kindergarten romances when they talked about the boy they shared a crush on, trying to decide what color his eyes are (blue, green or magenta?) and coming to a conclusion with "Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes" by Kristin Andreasson, complete with patty-cake-style vocal percussion.

Marti Dembowitz '10 wrapped up show-and-tell by presenting her backpack, her only companion on the walk home from school, and asked the rest of the class to help her find "Somebody to Love" (by Queen).

Momentarily breaking their kindergarten-age characters, Dembowitz and Fricano presented graduating seniors Newman and Richman with loving parting gifts from the rest of the group before calling any "Giraffes in the audience" up for a final song. The audience clamored for an encore, and the Giraffes granted it, ending the night with "Snakes on a Plane! (Bring It!)." Those in attendance were grinning and applauding as they left the theater, heading home for a bit more finger painting and maybe a trip down memory lane.