Recently the Bob Jones Patriot Players took their one-act play Opening Night for the Diva to the State Competition at Troy University. They won Best in Show, Best Costuming, Best Supporting Actor, All-Star Cast, and most importantly, the opportunity to represent Alabama at the Southeastern Theatre Conference this Spring. This will be a five-day trip to Lexington, KY March 1-5. They will compete against the best High Schools from across the Southeast. It will be Bob Jones’ 11th appearance with a one-act at the Conference. They hold the record for most SETC wins from a single school (3), most recently being in 2015. In addition to performing, the students will also be able to participate in college scholarship auditions, attend theater-related workshops with theater professionals from across the nation, and access an exhibit hall with over 100 college and university theater programs represented. 

As you can imagine, the troupe is now scrambling to raise the funds to afford this great honor. According to Mrs. Davis, Theatre teacher and one of the Directors of the one-act, “With the hotel, bus, and registration fees, the trip will cost each student $650. For the 50 students who will attend, that is $32,500” She later told me that the total cost could be higher than that because of other miscellaneous costs.

One of the ways you can help the Patriot Players fund this trip is by buying a Crush soda directly from the students attending SETC. They will be for sale starting in February and cost $2 each. At the time of purchase, you can write a message to your intended recipient. They will be delivered on Valentine’s Day (February 14th). You can buy them directly from theatre students who are attending SETC. This is a very direct way to support them because they will receive 50% of the profits from their individual sales to use towards their trip fee.

Another way you can support the Theatre Department is by attending their Spirit Night at Nothing but Noodles on January 30th. If you mention Bob Jones Theatre, 10% of your purchase will go to the Department. In addition, if you are a business interested in sponsoring the department and the SETC trip, contact [email protected] for more information on ways you can help. If you find it easier to support via direct donation, you can also donate to the department’s Leanstream Account. You can either enter a particular student’s name you would like to support or direct your funds to the department in general.

As a whole, you can see that there are many ways that the Theatre Department is helping students raise money for this trip and all the students involved are very grateful to have such great Directors as Mrs. Davis and Mr. Tilton who are allowing us to go on this trip. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible.

Lastly, there will be one final performance of Opening Night for the Diva on February 28th, the final day before SETC. Tickets will be sold in the weeks prior to the show from the cast and crew directly or at the door. More information regarding that show will be available at a later time.