by Francesca Merwin, staff writer

Syracuse University works hard to connect students and the community. There’s a good reason.  Students will spend about four years of their lives here, so they should be part of it.  It’s easy to get trapped in a university bubble, but student organizations are creating unique ways to interact — with the community as a “living stage.”

One such organization is Syracuse University’s First Year Players (FYP), a student-run musical theatre troupe that produces an annual spring show with an entirely freshman cast. But FYP does much more than stage a show. It participates in community service-related events throughout the semester in an attempt to engage freshmen early in their college careers.

“We’re not just a campus organization that puts on a one-and-done production,” says Andrea Stopa, co-producer of FYP’s spring production of The Drowsy Chaperone. “We are a freshman-centered group that is conscious of our unique ability to open doors for new students and help to burst the ‘university bubble’ at the beginning of college.”

 FYP participates in a wide range of activities during the off-season to both promote the organization and engage with the community.  It has organized Adopt a Street community service programs, performed at blood drives, worked with Westcott Community Center’s after-school programs, and produced charity cabarets such as “Caparet” to benefit a national organization Caps for Kids– all in the last year. 

And because FYP features more than 80 members (many of whom stay with the organization long after they have participated in the freshmen production), there is a lot of human resources to give back. “We love to take energy off of the stage and put it into the community,” notes Stopa, “Especially because we have so much of it.”

In the future, FYP hopes to reach out to local high schools and host dance, singing or acting workshops. It hopes to use the workshops as a way to reach students involved with drama and talk to them about the benefits and challenges of the college experience.  It also hopes to build on relationships with other SU organizations, as well as other community groups.   “We create a space for our members to come together through theater, but we use that space for so many other things,” Stopa concludes. “These initiatives enrich the organization, and all of our members.”

To see First Year Players in action on the stage, come to The Drowsy Chaperone, 8 p.m.,  April 12, 13, and 14 at Goldstein Auditorium in SU’s Schine Student Cente.  Tickets are $4 for students and $7 for community members, and are on sale now at the Schine Box Office.

For more information, please visit First Year Players’ website.