The FYAlumni NewsletterOn this 26th day of February,

the year of “The Wedding Singer”

First Year Players presents:

• This past fall, we hosted improv and monologue workshops with tons of eager potential cast members.

• We finalized all technical aspects of the show with the art team months before there was a cast, including things such as lighting, props, set and character aesthetics.

• The first weekend back from winter break was audi-tions, and more than 60 students auditioned for the show! We reached our goal of 24 cast members and could not be more excited with the cast we have.

• We just started to break into rehearsals and do indi-vidual character work with each cast member.

• We’ve been having a blast working with “The Wed-ding Singer” cast. They’re amazing.

Directing team

• The pit band was chosen and already rehears-ing before winter break! We are working to incor-porate the pit band with the rest of FYP staff more and more to make them feel welcomed.

• The casties are learning “The Wedding Singer” music at a very fast pace, and they sound great!

• We are trying to work with the pit band earlier than the just before tech week at the sitzprobe this year, because of so much stress and trouble in the past. It is on track to run much more smoothly than it has before.

Music team

• With a staff of 66 and a cast of 24, there are currently 90 active members in the organization.

• We are constantly trying to increase our presence on campus. This year we co-sponsored the Drag Show with Pride Union, and we also helped run karaoke at all of the dining halls during SU’s annual Winter Carnival.

• This is the first time in years that we’ve been ahead of schedule regarding the planning process of the show in terms of art team builds, choreo-graphed dances, etc.

Producers

• We are currently in the process of making four custom wedding gowns for the show.

• Set builds have begun and are going ahead of schedule. This year, instead of saving painting the set for the very end, we are painting pieces of the set as soon as they are built.

• SCPS (Student Centers and Programming Services) is intimidated because of some of the technical aspects we are utilizing in the set.

• After the show and the immediate set strike that follows closing night, we plan to donate all usable set materials to a local community theater organization for furthered use.

Art team

Step in timeEven before there was a cast, dedicated staffers have

been busy preparing for the show. Since casties finally joined the family in January, FYP has been unstoppa-ble in all of its endeavors. Check out what each team

has been up to and read all of the amazing things we’ve accomplished so far this school year!

• This year, we added the position of technique coach. Every Saturday morn-ing practice begins with the technique coach leading a mini dance class, going over proper placement and technique for turns, leaps, and footwork. The casties are not only learning dances for the show but they themselves are becoming better technical dancers and gaining confidence in their dancing ability.

• We’ve had a lot of combined acting and dance rehearsals to make the shift between acting and dancing look organic, and we’ve incorporated dances with scenery pieces so the actors change the scenery while dancing choreography.

• “The Wedding Singer” has more than 13 dance numbers in it, all of which contain very fast paced, high-energy movement. This is a big feat for FYP to take on, but the cast is beyond talented and pick up each dance easily. The danc-es are fierce and the casties are all stars.

Choreography team

Casties and the choreography team dress up for an 80’s themed Saturday morning dance rehearsal.

Matchmaker, matchmaker

Casties speed-dated staff members to foster the mentor/mentee program. Mentors anon-ymously showered their mentees with gifts before the big reveal, and now the mentor/mentee program is in full swing. (AP Team)

• The staff retreat to Camp Casowasco at the end of September was full of fun, games, songs and fireside chats while preparing for the cast. As is tradition, we decorated personalized rehearsal notebooks for the casties.

• Social events have included movie nights, ice skating, and pumpkin picking and carving contests, with many more to come. We are in the planning stages of the first ever FYProm.

• Casties speed-dated staff members to foster the mentor/mentee program. Mentors anonymously showered their mentees with gifts before the big reveal, and now the mentor/mentee program is in full swing.

AP team

• FYP has continued the tradition of Adopt-A-Street, getting together once a month to pick up trash on Clarendon. We always have a competition to see who can find the strangest or most interesting piece of trash.

• A more recent tradition, our annual Charity Cabaret was held in Oc-tober, a night of performances from the staff and other performance groups across campus, for a suggested donation at the door. Honoring Disability Awareness Month, we partnered with the new campus Disability Cultural Center for the event, and made a donation to Unified Theater, an organiza-tion that works to provide theater opportunities for children with disabilities.

• FYP has been regularly visiting the Westcott Community Center for its after school program. Around Halloween, we received a generous donation from Wegman’s that allowed us to buy pumpkins to paint with the students, and we returned to the center to do more crafts.

Community Service

• The Finance Team submitted the largest budget in FYP history, totaling $23,309.15, and we got fully funded for the third year in a row.

• On top of that, the Pulse Performance Arts Series contributed another $3,000 towards “The Wedding Singer,” the first time that FYP is partnering with the group since FYP did “Urinetown.”We also re-ceived $3,172.55 to supplement our Public Relations costs. In total, we have $29,481.70 going towards this year’s production.

• As a team, we are hard at work continually fundraising for the organization. We started a fundraiser called “FYP Candy Cane Wars” in December, where the casts represented in the staff competed to see who could sell the most candy canes. The junior class cast of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” came in first place.

• Other fundraising efforts include continuing existing fundraisers like Valentine’s Day Singing Grams and Drunk Grilled Cheese Nights.

Finance team

• We added a new position to our team: stage crew manager. This position, currently held by a freshman, is in charge of orga-nizing and coordinating everything with stage crew.

• We are working on getting everything on the props list earlier than usual so that the cast can use a majority of the props in rehearsal to familiarize themselves with the props, as well as gain a better understanding of the style and feel of the scene.

• Everything is moving quickly and rehearsals are going well. The cast is working hard and is ahead of schedule. The show is on track to be completely blocked before spring break.

Stage management team

PR team• Likes on our Facebook page have doubled —

nearly tripled — since “The Drowsy Chaperone”.• In August, Drowsies performed at Feel the

Pulse in Armory Square and yes, we did 50 flash-mobs first semester. We’ve since scaled back.

• Parent and business advertising sales have been sent to over 300 businesses and FYPhami-lies in anticipation of the show program.

• Campus dining halls will host a “The Wed-ding Singer” themed dinner Thursday, March 28th, complete with wedding cake made by dining hall staff — yummy!

Mark your calendars!

“The Wedding Singer”April 4, 5 and 6

Goldstein Auditorium

You all can not imagine how happy it makes me to see what you have become over the last

20 years. Congratulations to all who have been a part of making you what you have become today! Good luck with “The Wedding Singer.”“ ”~ Ed Golden, FYP Founder

posted on FYPSyracuse’s Facebook page, Feb. 17, 2013

Cast and staff pose with filled trash bags after Adopt-A-Street before embarking on the annual scavenger hunt.