As Facebook promised, there was definitely something ‘Swingin’ in Schine @ 12:39′ on Wednesday afternoon — or more like some people.

‘I was just sitting here studying,’ said Stephanie Dobyan, a senior art history major. ‘All of the sudden, I hear music and look up to a room full of people dancing.’

Amid the large crowds gathered in the Schine Student Center Atrium, students in sparkly, blue and silver First Year Players T-shirts broke out into a surprise flash mob to ‘Does Your Mother Know’ from ‘Mamma Mia’ at exactly 12:39 p.m. Cheers of encouragements from bystanders fueled the dancers as they leapt and twirled across the room.

The First Year Players is a completely student-run musical theater group on campus that provides non-drama major freshmen and transfer students the chance to perform in an annual spring musical. It also gives undergraduates the chance to work on the technical crew.

After recently announcing ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ as this year’s show, FYP members did the flash mob to encourage freshman to come to their workshops and, in the spring, audition for the musical. This year marksFYP’s 20th anniversary, which plays a major part in not only the choice of the musical, but also the energy of its members.

The flash mob gave freshmen a taste of what being a part of FYP is like.

‘We want to show freshman our personality — that we’re fun and that we like to do things that are spontaneous,’ said Rodney Fleming, a junior advertising and finance major and FYP public relations director.

After appointing this year’s staff, FYP jumped right into planning the flash mob. The members had five official rehearsals. The last one was held late Tuesday night in Schine.

With all the hard work, the flash mob proved to be a success. After the dance was over, members handed out fliers with the times of the general interest meetings and workshops.

‘Before the flash mob today I had no idea about FYP, but now I am definitely going to the general interest meeting,’ said Hannah Ruben, a freshman communications major.

A moral booster for the group, the 20th anniversary has reinvigorated a sense of communication between its members.

‘It reminds us that we need to work together as a whole team,’ said Dominic Giambra, a junior renewable energy major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and choreographer for FYP.

It is in this spirit that FYP chose ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ as the musical this year. It reflects the fun, high-energy attitude of FYP’s members, said FYP Director Nicholas Deyo, a senior television, radio and film major, in a press release.

‘We thought it was a really great celebration of what FYP is about,’ Deyo said in the press release. ‘It’s a very fitting tribute to the work that has been done in the past and the work that will continue to be done in the future.’

Continuing with the theme of celebrating FYP’s history, the staff will hold a reunion Nov. 12 for the FYP alumni of the past 20 years.

‘I am so excited to meet those people who were just like me in college and that have gone on. I want to see if theater is still a part of their lives,’ said Allie Villa, a sophomore public relations major and assistant choreographer for FYP.

Last year, as a freshman, Villa knew she wanted to participate in theater. After witnessing the flash mob, she knew FYP was the perfect fit.

Villa said: ‘When I joined FYP, I had no idea that it would become the best part of being at Syracuse for me.’

lfmiller@syr.edu