Students in Saint Andrews are hoping to see their stage finally lit up.
Grade 11 student at Sir James Dunn Academy, Mary Cunningham, is heavily involved in the drama department.
She tells us the stage lights at the school haven’t been on in twelve years due to safety concerns. “Currently we have little to no lighting at all on the stage. Whenever we do plays we have to rent lighting from other places, so that means its an extra cost for our drama department every time we do a play. We don’t really have anything for a sound system so our use of our stage is very limited. It’s basically just a place for our actors and actresses to stand.”
After a few estimates, Cunningham says it’s going to cost anywhere from $60,000 to $70,000 to replace the lighting. They are also hoping to purchase new curtains, bleachers, and a sound system. Cunningham says they’ve already been able to raise the majority of those costs, “We’ve talked with a lot of sponsors in our community. Our school is really lucky there are so many philanthropists in Saint Andrews that love to support everything that our students are doing, and we have teachers who are championing for us to help us get that money. So most of the money that we have right now has come from people in our community and supporters of the school just donating to help us get our goal.”
She tells us one more fundraiser should put us over the top, “We’re hosting a PEI celtic band called “Fiddlers’ Sons”, they’ve won an ECMA, PEI Music awards, so they’re a really great band. So they’re going to come down and play a show for us at the school. We’re using our stage and showing people the potential of this venue.”
Along with the four hundred tickets they need to sell for the show, the Grade 11 and 12 classes will hold a canteen with proceeds going to their graduation costs.
“Fiddlers’ Sons” will be performing on the SJDA stage on Saturday, April 28th, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.
Tickets are available by calling Sir James Dunn Academy at 506-529-5010, or at the Saint Andrews Scotiabank.
Scotiabank has also agreed to sponsor the event and will be matching donations at the concert up to five thousand dollars.
