Who says there’s nothing to do at William and Mary? Over 400 students, faculty, and community members spent Saturday, 22 January, at a sold-out Kimball Theater in Colonial Williamsburg for “Sadlerpalooza” – a showcase of performing arts groups at the College to help fundraise for three International Service Trips. The night featured singing, dancing, knee and e-mail jokes, and a special performance from the man of the hour, Vice-President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler.
The show opened with a short film by graduate student Adam Stackhouse parodying “It’s a Wonderful Life” with VP Sadler contemplating leaving his position at the College. His guardian angel, Government Professor Clay Clemens, is sent down to show VP Sadler just how much he is needed on campus.
After that, different groups on campus performed for a sold out crowd in the Kimball. Acousticore, Pointe Blank, Reville, Improvisational Theater, and the Appalachain String Band all performed before intermission. Afterwards, the Gentlemen of the College, the Accidentals, William and Mary Jugglers, and Syndicate performed.
VP Sadler jumped on stage and joined in as well. He participated in one number with the Accidentals while wearing a knee brace and tin-foil necklace shaped with the Accidental’s logo on it. Vice-President Sadler and Professor Clemens also took a major role in the grand finale – a rousing rendition of “A Whole New World” from the Disney movie “Aladdin.” The two sat on a “magic carpet” and sang along with all the performers from the evening. After that, Vice-President Sadler led the audience in the “Alma Mater.”
“Sadlerpalooza” was designed to raise money for three of the College’s International Service Trips – Project Mexico, the WM Global Village Team, and the WM Medical Relief Team. Project Mexico takes students to Reynoso, Mexico for one week to help build a house. The Global Village Team works in different Latin American countries to help them rebuild after a natural disaster. Students involved in the Medical Relief Team travel to Latin American or African countries and work with physicians in the area to provide free health care for citizens. The trips cost a total of about $60,000, almost half of which is subsidized by the Office of Student Volunteer Services.
Other than selling tickets, organizers for the event sold t-shirts featuring cartoon caricatures of VP Sadler and had a silent auction during intermission. At the end of the night, the co-producers stood onstage with the “Knee-Ra-Meter” to show how much money had been raised – over $5,000 by the end of the evening.
This event was not the end of fundraising for these projects. As one of the emcees for the evening noted, other fundraising endeavors will occur throughout the year. If interested in still donating to the projects, contact the Office of Student Volunteer Services in the Campus Center.
Stackhouse did not say if there would be another “Sadlerpalooza” next year, though based on the success of the first one, it seems like there will be.