During high school, theater was a huge part of Sammy Kanter’s life. But when he came to Syracuse University as a newspaper journalism major, he worried his passion would die out.

But First Year Players, an organization that casts first-year or transfer non-drama students, kept it burning.

He remained in FYP for four years. After his freshman role in ‘Anything Goes,’ he stayed on to work behind the scenes to co-produce ‘Fame’ in 2008 and ‘Urinetown’ in 2009. He seriously considered transferring to a college that offered a major in theater management, as SU offered none.

But it was also FYP that made him decide to stay.

‘I kind of let FYP be my education,’ said Kanter, a 2009 alumnus and now a theater producer and entrepreneur.

A lot can happen in 20 years, but as the First Year Players celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, the group’s effect on its members and alumni endures. This season’s production, ‘The Drowsy Chaperone,’ran April 12-14.

In 1992, Ed Golden, Syracuse University’s vice president of Student Affairs at the time, founded First Year Players to give freshmen non-drama majors and first-year transfer students a chance to step into the spotlight. The entirely student-run organization puts on one show every spring – FYP alumni, upperclassmen who stay on as part of the staff, handle everything from casting and directing to creating the set and advertising.

Golden founded the only other First Year Players organization at the University of Virginia, where he previously worked before coming to SU in 1981. The organization has made memories for its members ever since.

For this year’s show, the group partially chose the comedy musical due to its strong message of the enduring magic of theater, said Alex Rogers, FYP co-producer and a senior advertising major, and Rodney Fleming, FYP’s public relations director. The show tells the tale of a Broadway actress and her struggle with choosing between love and her career.

”The Drowsy Chaperone’really pays homage to theater and how theater gives someone an escape, and that’s what FYP does,’ said Fleming, a junior advertising major.

Auditions for the show started in late January, and students handled every little detail of the production. Fleming and Rogers stood in the FYP office in the basement of the Schine Student Center, surrounded by a mess of costumes, music stands and props as they finished up last-minute work two weeks before show time.

Although the members study a variety of majors, they share a passion for theater that forms strong bonds between them when they put on a full-scale production.

‘Musicals were a big part of my life in high school, and I knew I wanted them in my life, but not as a major,’ said Kim Brown, a 2006 alumna who majored in broadcast journalism and political science.

Brown, who acted in FYP’s 2003 production of ‘Damn Yankees,’ was the only member of the cast who attended the organization’s 20^th anniversary celebration during Homecoming week in November. It featured pictures and videos from past shows, performances put on by current members and, of course, a party.

‘It was so great. The current members got to see the impact FYP had on others,’ Rogers said.

Old photos and a clip of ‘Damn Yankees’ made Brown nostalgic. Another friend who also acted in the show joined Brown at SU. Reminiscing about the fun they had, the two sang songs from the show.

‘It was a walk down memory lane,’ said Brown, who still remains on campus as SU’s alumni programs coordinator.

She remembers trying out for FYP with a friend. During the dance portion of the audition, Brown went to do a big, showy kick, fell on her wrist and broke it. Luckily, she made the cut despite her fall, but she spent most rehearsals in a full-arm cast.  Brown said that some of her favorite memories include going to Kimmel Food Court with the cast to get food late at night after rehearsals.

‘We would all go, still in full makeup. I can still see the pictures in my head,’ she said.

Memories weren’t the only thing Kanter and Brown took away from their time with FYP. Kanter still stays in touch with friends he made through FYP and hangs out with them on a regular basis.

‘I tell my friends that I was in a coed theater fraternity,’ Kanter joked. Brown also likened the experience of FYP to being part of a greek organization, claiming it was either ‘join a sorority or do FYP.’

By celebrating their 20th anniversary, alumni and current members looked back at how FYP influenced the lives of those who participated in it.  Kanter, who attended FYP’s 15th anniversary celebration in 2007, noted the alumni marveled at how the group started out small and transformed into a big campus organization.  

‘I think it’s lasted so long because the people involved are so passionate. The people in it create bonds – like a family, essentially,’ Kanter said. ‘I’m thrilled that the organization is still alive and affecting people.’

amhider@syr.edu

Published on April 15, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Anna: amhider@syr.edu