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  • 1.  Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-07-2015 13:18

    I have been approached with the idea of developing a theatre camp for the city's parks and recreation department.  Their idea is to have a Monday-Thursday, two-week camp with a performance on the Friday of the second week.  I have never done anything like this before, so I really don't know where to start.  I would love to offer it just to ages 10-15 as I have no feeder schools to broaden my program (currently very small, non-funded, and not supported by my school's administration and staff).  The local arts alliance brings in the Missoula Theatre Company to work with children for a week every June.  There is no fee for those that attend, the majority of which are elementary ages.

    I haven't given the P&R folks an answer yet because I am at a loss as to where to being.  Any ideas on time, ages, production?

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    Lisa Tierney
    Director
    Coffee High School Theatre Arts
    Broxton GA
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  • 2.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-08-2015 08:45

    This summer we will be entering our 3rd such camp.  Our "Spartan Summer Theatre Camp" runs for two weeks from 9 - 5 Monday through Friday with a $5 admission matinee performance on the 2nd Friday followed by an evening show as well.   Our camp is open for students who have completed kindergarten through 8th grade.  The registration cost per camper is $250.  (Darn cheap summer daycare!)  We also sell ads in the program.  PVHS requires "Service Learning" to be completed by each student before graduation (40 hours as a 9th/10th grader and 40 additional hours as a 11th/12th grader).  I use those high school students as "Crew Heads"  (camp councilors).  (Even though one camp could cover their entire Service Learning requirement, a project can only count toward whatever grade you are in.  This does allow students to repeat as "Crew Heads" however.)  These students are volunteers and receive either Service Learning hours or Thespian points.

    Our first time out, we had no idea if it would work.  We did one camp and produced Annie, Jr.  (Can't say enough positive things about the Jr. scripts from MTI!)  We had 70 students register for camp!  Last summer we decided to go with two camps and did Seussical, Jr. for both.  We had 79 students register.  This summer we are doing Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr. and already have 71 paid students.

    After expenses (royalty, scenic, costume, salary, etc. (My wife as Director/Choreographer/Vocal Director and myself as Director/Technical Director each take a salary of $4000 for the four weeks of camp.), our drama department still made over $12,000.  (I can send you a copy of our accounting record if you would like.)

    If you want further info, shoot me an email.

    Break a leg!

    Bill
    ------------------------------
    [William] [Myatt] [Drama Director]

    [Pleasant Valley High School]

    [myattw@pleasval.k12.ia.us][563-332-5151][Bettendorf][IA][USA]
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  • 3.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-08-2015 09:02

    Hi Lisa,

    I worked with the YMCA for 7 years doing various camps with a performance at the end.  It can truly be anything you want it to be.  I did 3 hour camps on Shakespeare or Oral Interpretation (forensics in some areas) in one week with a performance at the end. The last four years we expanded to a full day camp for two weeks that ran from 8-3 with after-care until 5 for working parents.  We focused on rehearsing in the morning and then in the afternoon we did workshops and swimming for the campers.

    Here are some things to think about:

    1.)  Who will your audience be on that final day?  If it is just family and friends you can do more of a "sharing what we learned" instead of  a perfected performance.  Or will it be in the park for all to see and need to be more polished? 

    2.)  Goals...what do you want the campers to learn?  My focus was usually on character development for my longer camps and I chose pieces that allowed them to stretch their creativity. 

    3.)  Play selection...I have seen companies do junior versions of musicals in two weeks...not my cup of tea, but they do very well.  For my longer camps, I prefer to find or create a segmented show that can be rehearsed in smaller sections.  Usually I have scripted children's books to accommodate the number of campers I expect.

    4.)  Performance space...where will that final performance be...will you need microphones, set, costumes, etc.?

    5.)  Helpers...The larger camps I did were limited to 50 campers and I used 3 helpers.  I would suggest a 1:10 ratio if possible.  Be sure to hire people with skills they can share with students in workshops.  When I did the larger camps, I would hire another director, a choreographer, and a few college students.  If you are going to start small with a 3-hour camp, I would still suggest having at least one other person in the room with you.

    If you would like, I can send you my daily schedule for a few different camps I did through the years.  Then you can get an idea of what a typical day might look like. 

    Best wishes!

    P.S.  Make sure they pay you well!

    ------------------------------
    Vickie Fuller
    Yardley PA
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  • 4.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-08-2015 12:05

    Did my first summer camp last year, and I learned a lot from the successes and challenges of running it. It is a fairly intimidating undertaking, but absolutely worth it!

    Mine was a fairly loosely structured 2 week affair (Monday through Thursday only, due to summer school opening hours). We worked on characterization and improvisation games, some Shakespeare activities, some technical theatre aspects (i.e. a former student coming in to teach students how to use the sewing machines, and create something with it), and other things. We ran from 9 until 2, and being in a poorer community, our school was one of the designated schools where the cafeteria was open to for students to come and get breakfast and lunch. I managed to get a grant to pay for my hours last year, but this year I am doing it without pay.

    This year I will probably do some more of the same, though discarding the things that didn't work (certain exercises, nothing major), and trying new things. What I do want to try is for my campers to create something original for show at the conclusion of the week, something for parents to come and see. I open it up for middle school and high school children, and this year I am again offering it for free.

    I like what others have shared above, and may well take lessons from them about what approach to take next year. What is done isn't as important to me as building the relationships and good practices with a core group of 20+ dedicated high school and 20+ coming to me in 2/3/4 years middle schoolers, in order to slowly build my theatre program up over time. I have elementary students in my major shows throughout the school year, but because of the ending times of middle school students, this camp is one of the only ways I actually get to work with and prepare middle school students for high school drama. Ultimately it is an awesome experience that is well worth your time and energy. To parrot what others have said, what you do doesn't matter - it's yours to play with! What matters is that you are offering kids an amazing opportunity to grow together in a safe, exploratory environment where everyone respects each other (or will, by the end of the week!)

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Ruskin FL
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  • 5.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-08-2015 13:21

    I was the head counselor for many years at a summer theatre camp for ages 4th-7th grade that ran for five weeks. I love how they structured the day:

    9am-12 we had classes - acting, singing, dancing, and art.

    12-1pm we ate lunch and walked to the park for outside time.

    1-3pm  we rehearsed for the show.

    I liked that we actually had classes where we learned skills and didn't just rehearse for the show the whole time. There was a different teacher for each of the 4 classes, and we divided into groups to rotate the campers through the 4 areas (90 min each class, so you went to each class every other day). 

    I went to another theatre camp as a child where the acting time focused on blocking the show, the music time was for learning the songs from the show, and the dancing time was working on the choreography. That is another model that can work but then it's all about the show. With only two weeks, you may need to go that route. I think you could pull off one of the junior collection musicals and the kids would love it. And it is a great way to feed your program!  Good luck.

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    Julie Woffington
    Executive Director
    Educational Theatre Association
    Cincinnati OH
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-15-2015 07:41

    We've had success with the MTI Jr. Shows as well for our summer camp as well (which has a longer time frame, but perhaps shorter days--we only do three hours a day for a period of about a month with a long weekend built in for Independence Day generally).  So far we've doneAlice in Wonderland, Schoolhouse Rock Live, Willy Wonka, and Seussical. With the mix of kids we get (the program is open to those who've finished third grade up, but the cast usually consists primarily of upper elementary and middle schoolers with only a few young high schoolers sprinkled in), these shows worked well because there wasn't a romance at the center of them (I mean, you could call Horton and Gertrude love interests, but it's handled so innocently) as there are at the center of so many musicals.  We were hoping for Lion King, Jr. this year, but were told the rights were only available for school (this particular program is hosted at a community theatre).

    Some of the challenges I've encountered (many of which may be familiar to those who directed theatre in a school setting any way): it's best to have multiple activities going on simultaneously.  Since it's a paid summer camp experience, you can't really just call the leads and have everyone else sit at home.  Nor can you have the other kids sit around and not be used.  It really helps to have at least three "teachers" (in our case two teachers and a high school or college intern choreographer) and cycle the kids through three activities daily, which, largely, supposes that the cast list is carefully divided up into two "choruses."  (Example:  "in our first session today the Jungle Creatures will be dancing, the Whos will be singing and the leads will be blocking.")  Happily a lot of the MTI JR scripts have many group numbers.  Having an arts and crafts project can help too (E.g. students create the fish for "Anything's Possible" in Seussical).

     I will also say that, from the time frame you've suggested (not sure how long your camp day is), if your plan is to do a full-fledged show, that sounds like a pretty brisk pace, and you will likely find that there's little time for non-rehearsal educational activities and games.  Years ago I did another camp that had a different model that resulted in a more pared down performance.  The students picked a theme (it was "secrets" that year) and through games and exercises did original adaptations and stagings of folk tales from around the world that treated that theme.

     Just depends on what your goals are and the expectations of the stakeholders.  Good luck!

    ------------------------------
    Ryan Moore
    Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
    Ferndale MI
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  • 7.  RE: Summer Theatre "Camp"

    Posted 04-16-2015 07:40
      |   view attached
    The last four summers I have worked at our local Jewish Community Center. Three weeks audition to closing with five shows in the last four days. That's two and a half weeks audition to open. Seven hour days. Full professional production team. The pros put in a lot more time than the kids and get paid well for it. We do this three times a summer. Three full production in nine weeks. The kids are middle to high school aged and learn so much. It's intense. I have also done six weeks or five weeks for a show and th kids rotated like someone else said, but it included building and painting their scenery. ------------------------------ Scott Hasbrouck Wheat Ridge CO ------------------------------
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