Six students organised the evening, on which they were assessed as part of their event management paper.
Two of the students, Marjoree Wimmers (19) and Alex West (20) - who hosted the evening with their fellow course members - said they had chosen the 1940s movie as the basis for the night because they wanted something original.
‘‘We were told we had to break away from a sit-down dinner which everyone has done to death,'' Mr West said.
‘‘And how many 1940s parties do you go to these days?''
Miss Wimmers said the group had been responsible for every detail from start to finish, including coming up with the idea, planning, getting sponsorship, booking a venue, budgeting and keeping things running smoothly on the night.
The invitation for the night suggested people come dressed up in Casablanca-style costumes and many of the guests made the effort, including the six students running the event.
The group had arranged drinks and nibbles, followed by the screening of Casablanca, with more refreshments and food at intermission. A raffle ran throughout the night, featuring about $3500 worth of prizes donated by local businesses.
The evening was held at Dorothy Browns Cinema and 42 tickets were sold - the capacity of the main theatre.
QRC chief executive Jan Fitzgerald said each intake of students was required to manage an event from start to finish, which was ‘‘a great test''.
‘‘They are such a young group to be pulling this off,'' Ms Fitzgerald said of the ‘‘innovative and different'' evening.
She said a large proportion of those present were careers advisers and tourism teachers from throughout New Zealand and Australia, in town for a familiarisation trip at the college, so the Casablanca night had been a nice way to welcome them and introduce them to the students.
Miss Wimmers said $483 had been raised, but proceeds from the sale of photographs taken on the night were still to be determined. The final amount would be donated to Wakatipu Plunket.
