On March 5, thespian Troupe 1298 hosted a movie night at Miami Palmetto Senior High to raise funds for their upcoming April show, “Mamma Mia.” Taking place at 5:30 p.m., the movie night included a Greek dinner, a screening of the 2002 comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and a silent auction. The troupe welcomed parents and kids alike to attend and enjoy the night together.
Like any successful fundraiser, the event came together thanks to the dedication and teamwork of every drama student and cast member.
“It included a lot of trying to get parents to volunteer, a lot of reaching out to different families and the whole cast spent a whole two hours before the movie night setting up; putting up the fountain and all the chairs and figuring out the projector,” sophomore and troupe co-publicist Madison Interian said.
Raising funds has become essential to the drama department at MPSH, providing them with sufficient money to put together their productions.
“We don’t get any funding from the school, which a lot of people don’t know; any money that we start the year off with is from our previous year,” Interian said. “So we have to fundraise for everything.”
Every penny raised from the movie night goes to Troupe 1298, supporting their program and providing resources for their anticipated 2026 performance of “Mamma Mia.” These funds will cover costs for sets, costumes and any other aspects of the show’s production.
“People kind of underestimate how expensive a show can truly be. We strive to have a show that very much exceeds the expectations for a high school,” senior and cast member Yitzchak Shapiro said. “There’s a lot of little aspects that come into play when it comes to making a show, especially for ‘Mamma Mia,’ there’s a lot of different costume changes and set changes that are expensive.”
Cast members and drama students were pleased with the turnout at the movie night, noting the support for their program.
“It’s special to have your friends and everyone else celebrate and experience with you all the hard work that you put into the show; it’s very fulfilling and it gets people more excited about it, and gets more people involved in the arts, which is a really important part of my high school experience,” sophomore and “Mamma Mia” lead Sarah Bacigalupi said.
These thespians hope to see support for their hard work continue and expect an even bigger turnout at their “Mamma Mia” shows on April 15, April 16, April 18, April 21, and April 22 at 6:30 p.m., and on April 18 at 2 p.m..
