The smell of fries, onion rings, and burgers filled the air as the Thespians hosted and performed at their new karaoke fundraiser at The Suds.
“I helped to organize the event, and since I work there, I MCed the whole thing,” sophomore Mya Lindsay Luther said.
Luther is on Thespians council, and she explained the process of doing her part in setting up the event, which raised $200 for the theater program.
“I asked my boss if we could do it. Then, I got Ms. Hayes in contact with my boss, and they both agreed and got it set up. The process wasn’t really difficult because we had help from the GHS Student Council with getting a sound system, and it was nice and easy to work with,” Luther said.
Although Luther was a significant part of setting up this event, Ms. Amy Hayes, director, worked behind the scenes.
“I organized the fundraiser. I set up the contact with The Suds through Mya, so she was my main contact. We sat down and hashed out a date that would be good for everybody. I also put together the karaoke program and all the music that dealt with the sound system. So I essentially did a little bit of everything for this fundraiser,” Ms. Hayes said.
Since this was the Thespian’s first time hosting a Karaoke event, she was happy with the turn out.
“ I had pretty much no expectations because this is the first time we ever did it, so I was pretty pleased with our turnout. We had quite a bit of kids show up, and the program has grown so much that it was only a small fraction of the students we have in the theater program now. The students said they had an amazing time. So, I think it will be a really big crowd pleaser next year, once everybody knows more about it,” Ms. Hayes said.
One of the students who attended the event, sophomore Olivia Rockey, shared her experience.
“I enjoyed the event. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t sing, even though I wanted to. My friend didn’t want to go up there with me so I got scared to go by myself. But, my favorite part was probably watching the other people perform. It was really silly and funny, and I really enjoyed it, ” Rockey said.
Another attendee, senior Eva Dean is heavily involved in theater, so she was excited for this fundraiser.
“I enjoyed going to the karaoke fundraiser because I love singing in front of crowds and hearing other people sing, so it was a really fun experience. I went with my dad, and he really enjoyed it, and I know all of my friends that were there enjoyed it, so we really hope to get to do it again sometime,” Dean said.
She shared how the fundraiser may help the theater department.
“The money from this fundraiser will help fund our student-led productions and our regular productions because we are really in need of some money,” Dean said.
The theater program thanks everyone for attending.
“Every little bit of this helps, not only with raising funds but with exposure and bringing people to our program because one of the things I am really proud of is this program and how incredibly strong we are talent and production-wise,” Ms. Hayes said.
