First Year Players hold auditions for ‘Grease’

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Syracuse University senior Sydni Tougas can still recall the night of her freshman activities fair. As she wandered through the booths advertising SU’s many campus organizations, she heard music from “Heathers: The Musical” playing. Naturally, she gravitated toward the First Year Players table, she said, and the rest was history.

After last year’s show, when COVID-19 forced FYP to debut their musical through a video recording, the theater organization on campus is ready to get back to their usual show business.

On Jan. 26, FYP will begin auditions for this year’s musical, “Grease.” Cast auditions, pit auditions and crew interviews will take place throughout the weekend for freshmen on campus. The sign up sheet is located on FYP’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

FYP is a unique organization because it helps ingrain freshmen into SU’s community, said Tougas, one of FYP’s co-producers. Usually about 50 freshmen make up the cast, crew and pit members, and then upperclassmen work as the executive board and staff.

Tougas spoke about the growth she experienced within FYP.

“No matter what you do in your first year, the trajectory of you in the organization can go anywhere you want,” she said. “Even if you make one person’s year better, that’s all that matters.”

Cate Hudson, an SU sophomore, joined FYP last year on the crew. Her role consisted of building and painting sets, moving sets and props during the show and helping out backstage. She said she participated in theater growing up, so when she came to Syracuse, joining FYP was a great way to keep her love for theater alive.

“I had never been in the crew before,” she said. “I wanted to get a new perspective on theater.”

Students in First Year Players have performed plays such as “Something Rotten” in the past.
Courtesy of First Year Players

Hudson not only had a great time experiencing theater through the lens of the crew, but also enjoyed meeting and getting to know so many people who shared her same interests. She said she especially enjoyed FYP’s mentorship from older students. Starting college amidst a pandemic was hard and depressing, Hudson said, but joining FYP gave her a support system and chance to meet her role models.

This year, Hudson will sit on FYP’s executive board as an assistant producer, and she said she is looking forward to running the mentorship program. Each freshman who joins FYP will get a mentor and join a family within the organization, which is like a bonding experience, she said.

“I knew I was a priority and felt so loved,” she said. “That’s such a great thing to feel, especially from older people who have been through it as well and are able to pass it down. It shows how special (FYP) is and how much people care about this organization.”

Caroline Whinney, an SU senior and FYP’s director, said she joined FYP after seeing a preview performance on a campus tour. She immediately joined the cast of “Newsies” and served as assistant director for the past two years. As a director, she said she helps make the vision of the show come to life through the cast’s performance.

Like Whinney, seniors and co-producers Vivi Collymore and Tougas joined FYP after doing theater in high school and yearning to get more involved on campus. Collymore joined the crew, and Tougas played percussion in the pit. Now, as co-producers, they will oversee the executive board and the members within the organization.

FYP’s supporting environment gave her the opportunity to try out new things, Collymore said. Even with no prior experience in crew, she found a passion for stage management and was able to grow.

“It feels like a family,” said Whinney. She said that a lot of members do not major in theater, so FYP gives them a creative outlet.

Auditions and interviews will be held Jan. 26-29, and callbacks will be Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The final cast and crew list will come out later next week. “Grease” will be performed Apr. 7-9.

Hudson encourages every freshman to take part in FYP.

“Audition!” said Hudson. “You have nothing to lose and so much to gain from it. It’s such an amazing organization.”