May 29, 2024 • 20 mins
Curious about how the magic of summer camps comes to life at the 7th Street Community Theater? Join us as we sit down with Marlee Lane, the passionate camp director who transforms creative themes into unforgettable experiences for young theater enthusiasts. With exciting camps like "Wild Wild West," "Dino-Mite," "Puppets on Deck," and "Rock for the Ages," Marlee shares how her three years of experience streamline the planning process, ensuring each camp is packed with opportunities for campers to create, learn, and perform. From cowboy adventures to rocking out in style, get ready to discover how these themes foster imagination and exploration in every child who joins.
Ever wondered what it takes to run a successful puppet camp? We spotlight the expanded "Puppets on Deck" camp set on the sea and delve into the multifaceted nature of theater arts. From acting and singing to costume making and puppet design, hear about the dedicated team, including Abby Lane, Luke Shaumann, and Sarah Hooganraad, who make it all happen despite geographical hurdles. Plus, learn about the flexible, child-centered planning approach that ensures each camper's interests are prioritized. Stick around for a celebration of the dedication and enthusiasm that fuel these camps and find out how to stay connected with us across various platforms. Tune in to be inspired and maybe even find your next creative outlet!
Camps – Chino Community Children's Theatre (chinochildrenstheatre.org)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Steps to the Stage.
A 7th Street Community Theater,take 2.
Hello and welcome to Steps tothe Stage.
A 7th Street Theater podcastwith the professionals that you
know and love, and then thosethat fill in as the guest hosts
when the professionals are notavailable.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The lights are on the curtains up.
This is Steps to the Stageavailable.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The lights are on, the curtains up.
This is Steps to the Stage and,on that note, my name is Kirk
Lane, sometime host and producerof Steps to the Stage podcast,
and we are really excited todayto have Miss Marlee Lane here to
talk to us a little bit aboutthe upcoming summer camps.
This is a program that we havehad for many, many, many years
(00:46):
here and it's been off and onover a few of our pandemics,
things of that nature, that havecome through, but they're back
in force and we're excited foranother year, another slate of
camps, and so we were hoping totalk and get to know a little
bit more about what the plansare for this year so that we can
(01:08):
get everyone on board and havea great summer and spend some
time at the theater.
So welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Hello, I'm Marlee, your camp director.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, the camp director, and this is now third
year.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yes, this is my third year.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
So now, third year, I knowwe've had a chance to talk to
you in the past and we did anepisode last year before the
camps.
It's got to be a little biteasier now.
Yes, no, let's hear more aboutthe process and each week, I
believe, has a different theme,just kind of some of the
(01:48):
philosophies and what you put inand how you're making the camps
, how you're improving the campsyear over year.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, it's definitely easier because I've made a set
of protocols for myself.
I'm doing a lot of what aproducer would do for a show
basically.
So now, like, I know the thingsI have to do, or before I was
coming up with the things I haveto do and then doing them.
So now it's I do them, but Iknow what I'm going to do, if
(02:17):
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It does, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, so this year we have four camps and the themes
are Wild, wild West, which isour Western cowboy cowgirl theme
, dino Might, which is, you know, dinosaurs, paleontologist.
And then we have another puppetcamp, which we've done before,
so this one is now not justpuppets but puppets on deck.
(02:44):
So some of your, you know,classic, under the sea on the
boat sailing I love it situationI love it and then we're
rounding it all out with what wecall rock for the ages, which
is going to be kind of like arock and roll music outside of
musical theater that stillinspires us to do theater type
(03:04):
of situation.
Okay, great, so yeah.
And then each one of them haswe've done this in the past but
we're sticking a little more tothis where every theme connects
to a story which is going to gointo the play and then every
theme also connects to kind of abig idea or a big question that
(03:26):
connects to how we create.
So the first camp is Wild WildWest.
So we'll have, you know,robbers, cow, you know our
villain and classic villain andhero story.
We'll have the animals thatcome along the way and help
story.
We'll have the animals thatcome along the way and help, and
(03:47):
so this theme is really focusedon like how can we because in
the wild wild west, you know,nothing's established, we're
going off the nature and offeach other.
So it's, how can we take what wehave, like our friends, nature,
the environment, the worldaround us, and use that to
create?
So that's kind of that ideawith the camp and then with our
dinosaur camp we're going tohave.
(04:07):
Basically it's a little nightat the museum where there's a
group of researchers,paleontologists we'll have like
a scientist and all these things, and then the dinosaurs will
come to life in the museum.
So that's kind of the storywith that for our play.
And then our tie-in question ishow can the past help us create
(04:30):
in the present?
So it's in the museum, like whywould a museum be important?
Why should we learn aboutdinosaurs and how that connects
to theater?
Because theater we're basicallylooking at the past and redoing
it again.
We're doing new things when youdo an old play.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And then our last no, not our last Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Our puppet camp is obviously,and puppets have been used in
theater for thousands of years,and I think sometimes I mean
obviously puppets are importantto everyone.
Think about the Muppets.
And we grow up, there's areason why humans are attached
(05:09):
to it.
Big part of our culture and whychildren are attached to it.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Sesame Street.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, so basically it's a little Gilligan's Island
situation where our puppets aregoing to be on a cruise, they
crash and we have our under thesea animals that come and help,
maybe some pirates and mermaidsthat come along, and so with the
puppets it's how can we tell astory using something else as an
instrument?
So that's kind of ourcreativity tie in there.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, a thematic type way to teach.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah, love that.
Love that.
How do we act on somethingthat's not ourselves?
Right Like even though theMuppets like there's like a
classic way they move, that'stelling a story, but that's just
someone's hand moving up anddown.
Right but yet we're able to feelemotions and stuff.
So if you know how to actthrough something else, you can
also act through yourself as aninstrument, and I think we
(06:01):
should start learning that young.
And then for our final camp,which is Rock for the Ages, our
story is going to be literally ajukebox musical, where people
are going to go to a jukebox andwe're going to travel through
the decades of music.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, so the creativity tie-in is what music
inspires us to create, andsometimes it's not musical
theater, right, but also jukeboxmusicals are popular and
different things can be used intheater.
So, as I ramble along aboutcreativity and connecting but
the themes aren't justwilly-nilly, you know like we
(06:37):
think about how they connect towhat we can teach, how they can
be obviously fun.
It's all fun animal.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Well, yeah, and you have themes for each week, and
these are themes that people arecomfortable with and have an
affinity towards, and so itgives you that vehicle to
obviously and it sounds like youobviously have the goal in mind
ahead of time and you'vecreated the vehicle now.
So, for each week, andespecially if you have campers
that come to all four weeks,they get something unique each
(07:06):
camp.
Or if they're just coming forone, you know they can choose
something, that's they likedinosaurs the most or they like
Westerns the most, so so theyhave that opportunity.
So I love that and I definitelylove the thematic teaching idea
.
And you know, I think,regardless of what age, you know
, even to us as adults, everyonehas different ways of learning
and absorbing, and I love thefact that it really sounds like
(07:28):
there's a thought, a plan aheadof time on how we can do this to
get the most out of those thatare attending the camp.
So that's fantastic.
And so you said this is thesecond time you've done a puppet
camp before.
Yes, what was last year's morethemed upon?
Or is this kind of an extension, or is it just again using the
(07:49):
same vehicle for a differenttype of lesson?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
It's before.
We kind of just had the idea oflike puppets and then we
created a story around it.
It was that theme was more like, you know, like the puppets of.
Then we created a story aroundit.
It was that that theme was morelike, um, you know, like the
puppets of seventh street, andit was like a town trying to
figure it out.
So we're just kind of we loved,like what that brought, like
they get to have in other partsbecause theater's not just
(08:12):
acting and singing right theateris costume making, theater is
art and all that stuff.
So we got to, they got to reallyfocus in on they.
Just the kids designed theirown puppet and we like loved
that and they got to use it inthe in the show.
So now we're just kind of likeadding on.
We know that works and why not?
Puppets can be in every theme.
So why, not Okay, so they werein the town.
(08:32):
Now they're on the sea.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.
And then again the actualmaking of the puppets, or, um, I
believe, if I recall, from lastyear.
You utilize the set that wasexisting and you just kind of
augmented it for the story.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And we'll.
That will be the similar forthe camps this year because we
have other productions that aregoing on.
So and that's the great partabout this particular theater is
, you can have multipledifferent events going on at
once.
I mean, even tonight, as werecord this, we have two
different rehearsals from twodifferent productions going on.
We're doing this podcast here.
There's other rehearsals thatare happening for other
(09:09):
showcases, so it's great that itgives those outlets.
So in these camps I know in thepast you have had help, so I'm
assuming you're going to havecounselors, co-counselors.
Talk to me about who's going tobe helping out this year.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yeah, we have a lot of different people.
We have Abby Lane, which hasbeen a she's been a junior
counselor before Luke Shaman,who's going to be the music
director, who's done camp beforeSarah Hoganrad, who's helped
out, and we'll have some otherlittle special guest stars that
are coming by.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I love it.
So it's a good team, yeah, forsure, yeah, and a team that has
roots here at the theater aswell, which I think is fantastic
and it's definitely carrying itforward.
Now, do you guys I'm assumingbecause I know believe Sarah was
based out of New York where shegoes to school?
Yes, so do you have a coupleonline meetings ahead of time to
kind of talk about the approachand how that's going to work?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Exactly Schedule conflicts, all those other
things, how you can deal withthat.
(10:26):
So I love that.
And then, leading up to it, isthere what other type of
preparation is involved, likehour by hour an idea of what's
going on, and we pick all thesongs out beforehand.
But even songs, a lot of thetimes we change during the week
because it just oh, it justdoesn't work here, it doesn't
work with the story.
So there is obviously a bunchof pre-playing that we do, but
(10:47):
the real, like getting down intoit happens during the week of
camp.
So we, we know the kids, weknow the kids, we know the ages,
just what even they're into,and that's really where it comes
together.
And I think that's why theshows end up successful at the
end of the week, because wedon't just barrel in with like
(11:08):
we're not tied to ourpre-planning, because our
planning isn't important, butthe kids are important.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So it's you know we do what we can, so we're not
unprepared.
But I think it's important toand I think that's important for
a show too.
It just depends on when you getthere.
You kind of cut off creativityif you over plan, I think.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Agreed, agreed.
I love how each week is justlike a normal production we have
here.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, just speed round, it's a speed round,
exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
But these kids and I think that's really one of the
main purposes right is to givepeople the opportunity and the
exposure.
These kids the exposure to seewhat a production is all about
and hopefully they come andaudition for a future production
.
Exactly Right.
And just like all thecounselors, have been involved
in other productions before.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So the listener that has not been to a camp before,
let's talk about a typical dayand then let's talk about split
up into groups and our lovelyjunior counselors are usually
the head of one of those groupsand then we rotate to different
rooms.
So there's the singing room,there's the dancing room,
there's the acting room, andthen we rotate and learn what we
have to learn for the show inthose times and then when we're
not doing that, there'ssometimes a fun event.
We're learn for the show inthose times and then when we're
(12:38):
not doing that, there'ssometimes a fun event.
We're rehearsing the show,we're doing all those things.
But that's kind of the typicalday-to-day.
And then it changes from thatand as we lead up to our big
Friday, which is when the showhappens, we obviously Thursday
we're rehearsing and all thatstuff.
On Friday we use the morning torehearse and then basically the
kids memorize lines, memorizelyrics, memorize choreography
(13:02):
for a good.
Most of the shows are usually20 to 30 minutes.
It's a hefty amount ofinformation, but they can, they
do, yeah.
So they go to the show and theparents and whoever else wants
to come comes and they sit down,watch the show and it's great.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
And they are great.
And I can say you know, beinginvolved in this theater for
many years, and I've been tomany of these end of the week
plays and they are justfantastic to see the excitement
on everyone's face.
And they are just fantastic tosee the excitement on everyone's
face.
What I really love as well isyou immediately see the
camaraderie that the camp has.
You know the camp attendeeshave developed throughout the
(13:45):
course of the week.
Right, you know you come in atthe end.
You've just been dropping themoff, picking them up.
You're hearing stories here andthere, but you really see it.
You really see the interaction.
And the thing that I especiallylove is when they're on stage
and, as you said, they've got a.
There's a lot to memorize in ashort amount of time and some
people are going to pick it up alittle bit quicker than the
others, and always the ones thatare there supporting the other
(14:09):
to help them with a little leadline just to get them back on
track.
And and you could see that youknow that fear is there, but
then the fear goes away whenthey know that their cast is
there to support them.
So I love that you create thatas well, the teachers and and
and and you leading everyonethere.
I love that.
That is definitely something,and I also love the the
(14:33):
camaraderie amongst theleadership, amongst amongst the
counselors that definitely showsthrough as well.
Give us some more informationand details on how we can sign
up if we would like our child toattend.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Of course.
So the same way you buy ticketsis you?
The same way you sign up forcamps.
So you're basically buying aticket for your kid to go to
camp.
So it's on the same place inthe website.
You go to tickets, you go toseat yourself and you pick the
camp you want to go to, and yeah, and then you pay there and if
you, we offer half scholarshipsand full scholarships, so you
(15:06):
can just you can email thetheater or you can email me my
camp email is cccct7camp atgmailcom and ask for
scholarships or ask for I'm notsure how to sign up, and
basically that's it.
And I send an email a weekbefore every camp, just making
sure everybody's good.
(15:26):
And you can also sign up day of.
Got it Come in on Monday at 8.30am.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And we'll put a link in the show notes with all the
information.
But let's go through.
Do you have the dates by anychance off the top of your head,
or should we look them up,because I think it would be
great for us to give everyonethe dates, and we'll put them in
the show notes as well.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yes, so our first camp, our lovely Wild Wild West
camp, will start on June 10th.
Okay, so that's and camp willstart on June 10th Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So, and what was the time again?
You said 830 in the morning 830to four every day.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
830 to four Monday to Friday.
Okay, so let me pull up mylittle thing.
So that's our first camp, andthen dynamite is our second camp
and that starts on June 17th.
Okay, once again 830 to fourevery day.
Puppets on Deck is June 24th,and then we all take a break for
(16:20):
4th of July, right, and thelast camp is going to be on July
8th.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Wonderful and it's okay to sign up for all four
camps, mm-hmm, and maybe we haveone conflict or something to
that nature.
They can interact with you andthey can.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, we've had people like they've had to miss
a day, or miss half a day forsports or another audition, and
it's usually obviously ifthey're going to miss the show,
it's a little hard.
But also if we know that aheadof the time they can still be
part of the camp, we just won'tgive them like a role in the
show, right?
So yeah, so you don't have tobe like stressed out about it.
We have literally all day torehearse, so there's time,
(17:02):
there's time.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So that brought up another question that I had what
about the tech side of things?
Are you working on that alittle bit as well with the camp
?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, so we usually do a tech camp, but we're not
doing this one this year.
We're keeping it short andsweet with four camps.
So every camp we usually dolike a small light design and
sound, so I usually reach out.
Or if you're interested in tech, you can reach out on the.
I think there's already up on,like the website and Instagram,
a tech interest form and campsare part of them.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Wonderful.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And so it's basically like you get to help out, they
get to do tech for the mini show.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So they come Thursday and basically we do like a dry
tech.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
A small, it's just everything quick and short.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, very similar to the attendees that are getting
that, you know, getting thatfirst chance at doing a
production.
This is a great opportunity forsomeone that wants to learn
tech as well, and I know that'ssomething and you mentioned it
and that's what is somethingthat you'll highlight in these
camps is it's not just thegetting on stage, right, it's
the.
You got to think of the storyahead of time.
You know you've got to writethe dialogue, you've got to
(18:07):
write the script, you've got todo the set, you've got to do the
costumes, you've got toschedule everything You've got.
You know you've got to work onthe blocking, you got to work on
the lights, the audio all ofthese things you're going to,
you know you compact into thatshort week.
So it gives you thatopportunity and that experience
to see all that so that you knowbecause maybe you don't know
(18:28):
what you, you know what yougravitate towards, right.
Some people may think, oh, Iwould never act, and then all of
a sudden, they get out on stageand they have a great
experience, right?
Or sometimes people they wantto learn the tech or they want
to be creative and build sets,so I love that.
It gives them that opportunityin a very condensed but also, I
(18:49):
think, very positive environmentas well, especially with the
rest of the campers, and likeguidance and leadership.
Well, wonderful, well, weappreciate your time, as always.
Is there any other informationwe need to give to the listeners
out there?
Well, as mentioned, we'll putall of the links in the notes
and there should be a transcriptthat comes out as well.
(19:09):
That gives you some clearinformation as well.
And, as always, we appreciateyour time and we know this is
going to be another great andsuccessful summer of camps and
we thank you so much for beinginvolved for all these years,
and we especially thank you forcoming in after an already busy
day and busy night and spendingsome time to promote the camps
(19:31):
with us.
So thank you so much, marlee.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Of course, thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, and now
it's time for the Curtain Call.
You can follow us on Spotify,Apple, Google or any podcasting
platform.
We have videos up on YouTubeand you can visit our website at
stepstothestagebuzzsproutcom.
And, as always, a special thankyou to our audio engineer, Joey
(19:59):
Rice, and our producer, KirkLane.
Without the two of you, thisshow would not be possible.
Hello and welcome to Steps to the Stage.
A 7th Street Community Theater,take 2.
Hello and welcome to Steps tothe Stage.
A 7th Street Theater podcastwith the professionals that you
know and love, and then thosethat fill in as the guest hosts
when the professionals are notavailable.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The lights are on the curtains up.
This is Steps to the Stageavailable.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The lights are on, the curtains up.
This is Steps to the Stage and,on that note, my name is Kirk
Lane, sometime host and producerof Steps to the Stage podcast,
and we are really excited todayto have Miss Marlee Lane here to
talk to us a little bit aboutthe upcoming summer camps.
This is a program that we havehad for many, many, many years
(00:46):
here and it's been off and onover a few of our pandemics,
things of that nature, that havecome through, but they're back
in force and we're excited foranother year, another slate of
camps, and so we were hoping totalk and get to know a little
bit more about what the plansare for this year so that we can
(01:08):
get everyone on board and havea great summer and spend some
time at the theater.
So welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Hello, I'm Marlee, your camp director.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, the camp director, and this is now third
year.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yes, this is my third year.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
So now, third year, I knowwe've had a chance to talk to
you in the past and we did anepisode last year before the
camps.
It's got to be a little biteasier now.
Yes, no, let's hear more aboutthe process and each week, I
believe, has a different theme,just kind of some of the
(01:48):
philosophies and what you put inand how you're making the camps
, how you're improving the campsyear over year.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, it's definitely easier because I've made a set
of protocols for myself.
I'm doing a lot of what aproducer would do for a show
basically.
So now, like, I know the thingsI have to do, or before I was
coming up with the things I haveto do and then doing them.
So now it's I do them, but Iknow what I'm going to do, if
(02:17):
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It does, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, so this year we have four camps and the themes
are Wild, wild West, which isour Western cowboy cowgirl theme
, dino Might, which is, you know, dinosaurs, paleontologist.
And then we have another puppetcamp, which we've done before,
so this one is now not justpuppets but puppets on deck.
(02:44):
So some of your, you know,classic, under the sea on the
boat sailing I love it situationI love it and then we're
rounding it all out with what wecall rock for the ages, which
is going to be kind of like arock and roll music outside of
musical theater that stillinspires us to do theater type
(03:04):
of situation.
Okay, great, so yeah.
And then each one of them haswe've done this in the past but
we're sticking a little more tothis where every theme connects
to a story which is going to gointo the play and then every
theme also connects to kind of abig idea or a big question that
(03:26):
connects to how we create.
So the first camp is Wild WildWest.
So we'll have, you know,robbers, cow, you know our
villain and classic villain andhero story.
We'll have the animals thatcome along the way and help
story.
We'll have the animals thatcome along the way and help, and
(03:47):
so this theme is really focusedon like how can we because in
the wild wild west, you know,nothing's established, we're
going off the nature and offeach other.
So it's, how can we take what wehave, like our friends, nature,
the environment, the worldaround us, and use that to
create?
So that's kind of that ideawith the camp and then with our
dinosaur camp we're going tohave.
(04:07):
Basically it's a little nightat the museum where there's a
group of researchers,paleontologists we'll have like
a scientist and all these things, and then the dinosaurs will
come to life in the museum.
So that's kind of the storywith that for our play.
And then our tie-in question ishow can the past help us create
(04:30):
in the present?
So it's in the museum, like whywould a museum be important?
Why should we learn aboutdinosaurs and how that connects
to theater?
Because theater we're basicallylooking at the past and redoing
it again.
We're doing new things when youdo an old play.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And then our last no, not our last Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Our puppet camp is obviously,and puppets have been used in
theater for thousands of years,and I think sometimes I mean
obviously puppets are importantto everyone.
Think about the Muppets.
And we grow up, there's areason why humans are attached
(05:09):
to it.
Big part of our culture and whychildren are attached to it.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Sesame Street.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, so basically it's a little Gilligan's Island
situation where our puppets aregoing to be on a cruise, they
crash and we have our under thesea animals that come and help,
maybe some pirates and mermaidsthat come along, and so with the
puppets it's how can we tell astory using something else as an
instrument?
So that's kind of ourcreativity tie in there.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, a thematic type way to teach.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah, love that.
Love that.
How do we act on somethingthat's not ourselves?
Right Like even though theMuppets like there's like a
classic way they move, that'stelling a story, but that's just
someone's hand moving up anddown.
Right but yet we're able to feelemotions and stuff.
So if you know how to actthrough something else, you can
also act through yourself as aninstrument, and I think we
(06:01):
should start learning that young.
And then for our final camp,which is Rock for the Ages, our
story is going to be literally ajukebox musical, where people
are going to go to a jukebox andwe're going to travel through
the decades of music.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, so the creativity tie-in is what music
inspires us to create, andsometimes it's not musical
theater, right, but also jukeboxmusicals are popular and
different things can be used intheater.
So, as I ramble along aboutcreativity and connecting but
the themes aren't justwilly-nilly, you know like we
(06:37):
think about how they connect towhat we can teach, how they can
be obviously fun.
It's all fun animal.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Well, yeah, and you have themes for each week, and
these are themes that people arecomfortable with and have an
affinity towards, and so itgives you that vehicle to
obviously and it sounds like youobviously have the goal in mind
ahead of time and you'vecreated the vehicle now.
So, for each week, andespecially if you have campers
that come to all four weeks,they get something unique each
(07:06):
camp.
Or if they're just coming forone, you know they can choose
something, that's they likedinosaurs the most or they like
Westerns the most, so so theyhave that opportunity.
So I love that and I definitelylove the thematic teaching idea
.
And you know, I think,regardless of what age, you know
, even to us as adults, everyonehas different ways of learning
and absorbing, and I love thefact that it really sounds like
(07:28):
there's a thought, a plan aheadof time on how we can do this to
get the most out of those thatare attending the camp.
So that's fantastic.
And so you said this is thesecond time you've done a puppet
camp before.
Yes, what was last year's morethemed upon?
Or is this kind of an extension, or is it just again using the
(07:49):
same vehicle for a differenttype of lesson?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
It's before.
We kind of just had the idea oflike puppets and then we
created a story around it.
It was that theme was more like, you know, like the puppets of.
Then we created a story aroundit.
It was that that theme was morelike, um, you know, like the
puppets of seventh street, andit was like a town trying to
figure it out.
So we're just kind of we loved,like what that brought, like
they get to have in other partsbecause theater's not just
(08:12):
acting and singing right theateris costume making, theater is
art and all that stuff.
So we got to, they got to reallyfocus in on they.
Just the kids designed theirown puppet and we like loved
that and they got to use it inthe in the show.
So now we're just kind of likeadding on.
We know that works and why not?
Puppets can be in every theme.
So why, not Okay, so they werein the town.
(08:32):
Now they're on the sea.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.
And then again the actualmaking of the puppets, or, um, I
believe, if I recall, from lastyear.
You utilize the set that wasexisting and you just kind of
augmented it for the story.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And we'll.
That will be the similar forthe camps this year because we
have other productions that aregoing on.
So and that's the great partabout this particular theater is
, you can have multipledifferent events going on at
once.
I mean, even tonight, as werecord this, we have two
different rehearsals from twodifferent productions going on.
We're doing this podcast here.
There's other rehearsals thatare happening for other
(09:09):
showcases, so it's great that itgives those outlets.
So in these camps I know in thepast you have had help, so I'm
assuming you're going to havecounselors, co-counselors.
Talk to me about who's going tobe helping out this year.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yeah, we have a lot of different people.
We have Abby Lane, which hasbeen a she's been a junior
counselor before Luke Shaman,who's going to be the music
director, who's done camp beforeSarah Hoganrad, who's helped
out, and we'll have some otherlittle special guest stars that
are coming by.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I love it.
So it's a good team, yeah, forsure, yeah, and a team that has
roots here at the theater aswell, which I think is fantastic
and it's definitely carrying itforward.
Now, do you guys I'm assumingbecause I know believe Sarah was
based out of New York where shegoes to school?
Yes, so do you have a coupleonline meetings ahead of time to
kind of talk about the approachand how that's going to work?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Exactly Schedule conflicts, all those other
things, how you can deal withthat.
(10:26):
So I love that.
And then, leading up to it, isthere what other type of
preparation is involved, likehour by hour an idea of what's
going on, and we pick all thesongs out beforehand.
But even songs, a lot of thetimes we change during the week
because it just oh, it justdoesn't work here, it doesn't
work with the story.
So there is obviously a bunchof pre-playing that we do, but
(10:47):
the real, like getting down intoit happens during the week of
camp.
So we, we know the kids, weknow the kids, we know the ages,
just what even they're into,and that's really where it comes
together.
And I think that's why theshows end up successful at the
end of the week, because wedon't just barrel in with like
(11:08):
we're not tied to ourpre-planning, because our
planning isn't important, butthe kids are important.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So it's you know we do what we can, so we're not
unprepared.
But I think it's important toand I think that's important for
a show too.
It just depends on when you getthere.
You kind of cut off creativityif you over plan, I think.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Agreed, agreed.
I love how each week is justlike a normal production we have
here.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, just speed round, it's a speed round,
exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
But these kids and I think that's really one of the
main purposes right is to givepeople the opportunity and the
exposure.
These kids the exposure to seewhat a production is all about
and hopefully they come andaudition for a future production
.
Exactly Right.
And just like all thecounselors, have been involved
in other productions before.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So the listener that has not been to a camp before,
let's talk about a typical dayand then let's talk about split
up into groups and our lovelyjunior counselors are usually
the head of one of those groupsand then we rotate to different
rooms.
So there's the singing room,there's the dancing room,
there's the acting room, andthen we rotate and learn what we
have to learn for the show inthose times and then when we're
not doing that, there'ssometimes a fun event.
We're learn for the show inthose times and then when we're
(12:38):
not doing that, there'ssometimes a fun event.
We're rehearsing the show,we're doing all those things.
But that's kind of the typicalday-to-day.
And then it changes from thatand as we lead up to our big
Friday, which is when the showhappens, we obviously Thursday
we're rehearsing and all thatstuff.
On Friday we use the morning torehearse and then basically the
kids memorize lines, memorizelyrics, memorize choreography
(13:02):
for a good.
Most of the shows are usually20 to 30 minutes.
It's a hefty amount ofinformation, but they can, they
do, yeah.
So they go to the show and theparents and whoever else wants
to come comes and they sit down,watch the show and it's great.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
And they are great.
And I can say you know, beinginvolved in this theater for
many years, and I've been tomany of these end of the week
plays and they are justfantastic to see the excitement
on everyone's face.
And they are just fantastic tosee the excitement on everyone's
face.
What I really love as well isyou immediately see the
camaraderie that the camp has.
You know the camp attendeeshave developed throughout the
(13:45):
course of the week.
Right, you know you come in atthe end.
You've just been dropping themoff, picking them up.
You're hearing stories here andthere, but you really see it.
You really see the interaction.
And the thing that I especiallylove is when they're on stage
and, as you said, they've got a.
There's a lot to memorize in ashort amount of time and some
people are going to pick it up alittle bit quicker than the
others, and always the ones thatare there supporting the other
(14:09):
to help them with a little leadline just to get them back on
track.
And and you could see that youknow that fear is there, but
then the fear goes away whenthey know that their cast is
there to support them.
So I love that you create thatas well, the teachers and and
and and you leading everyonethere.
I love that.
That is definitely something,and I also love the the
(14:33):
camaraderie amongst theleadership, amongst amongst the
counselors that definitely showsthrough as well.
Give us some more informationand details on how we can sign
up if we would like our child toattend.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Of course.
So the same way you buy ticketsis you?
The same way you sign up forcamps.
So you're basically buying aticket for your kid to go to
camp.
So it's on the same place inthe website.
You go to tickets, you go toseat yourself and you pick the
camp you want to go to, and yeah, and then you pay there and if
you, we offer half scholarshipsand full scholarships, so you
(15:06):
can just you can email thetheater or you can email me my
camp email is cccct7camp atgmailcom and ask for
scholarships or ask for I'm notsure how to sign up, and
basically that's it.
And I send an email a weekbefore every camp, just making
sure everybody's good.
(15:26):
And you can also sign up day of.
Got it Come in on Monday at 8.30am.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And we'll put a link in the show notes with all the
information.
But let's go through.
Do you have the dates by anychance off the top of your head,
or should we look them up,because I think it would be
great for us to give everyonethe dates, and we'll put them in
the show notes as well.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yes, so our first camp, our lovely Wild Wild West
camp, will start on June 10th.
Okay, so that's and camp willstart on June 10th Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So, and what was the time again?
You said 830 in the morning 830to four every day.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
830 to four Monday to Friday.
Okay, so let me pull up mylittle thing.
So that's our first camp, andthen dynamite is our second camp
and that starts on June 17th.
Okay, once again 830 to fourevery day.
Puppets on Deck is June 24th,and then we all take a break for
(16:20):
4th of July, right, and thelast camp is going to be on July
8th.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Wonderful and it's okay to sign up for all four
camps, mm-hmm, and maybe we haveone conflict or something to
that nature.
They can interact with you andthey can.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, we've had people like they've had to miss
a day, or miss half a day forsports or another audition, and
it's usually obviously ifthey're going to miss the show,
it's a little hard.
But also if we know that aheadof the time they can still be
part of the camp, we just won'tgive them like a role in the
show, right?
So yeah, so you don't have tobe like stressed out about it.
We have literally all day torehearse, so there's time,
(17:02):
there's time.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So that brought up another question that I had what
about the tech side of things?
Are you working on that alittle bit as well with the camp
?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, so we usually do a tech camp, but we're not
doing this one this year.
We're keeping it short andsweet with four camps.
So every camp we usually dolike a small light design and
sound, so I usually reach out.
Or if you're interested in tech, you can reach out on the.
I think there's already up on,like the website and Instagram,
a tech interest form and campsare part of them.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Wonderful.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And so it's basically like you get to help out, they
get to do tech for the mini show.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So they come Thursday and basically we do like a dry
tech.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
A small, it's just everything quick and short.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, very similar to the attendees that are getting
that, you know, getting thatfirst chance at doing a
production.
This is a great opportunity forsomeone that wants to learn
tech as well, and I know that'ssomething and you mentioned it
and that's what is somethingthat you'll highlight in these
camps is it's not just thegetting on stage, right, it's
the.
You got to think of the storyahead of time.
You know you've got to writethe dialogue, you've got to
(18:07):
write the script, you've got todo the set, you've got to do the
costumes, you've got toschedule everything You've got.
You know you've got to work onthe blocking, you got to work on
the lights, the audio all ofthese things you're going to,
you know you compact into thatshort week.
So it gives you thatopportunity and that experience
to see all that so that you knowbecause maybe you don't know
(18:28):
what you, you know what yougravitate towards, right.
Some people may think, oh, Iwould never act, and then all of
a sudden, they get out on stageand they have a great
experience, right?
Or sometimes people they wantto learn the tech or they want
to be creative and build sets,so I love that.
It gives them that opportunityin a very condensed but also, I
(18:49):
think, very positive environmentas well, especially with the
rest of the campers, and likeguidance and leadership.
Well, wonderful, well, weappreciate your time, as always.
Is there any other informationwe need to give to the listeners
out there?
Well, as mentioned, we'll putall of the links in the notes
and there should be a transcriptthat comes out as well.
(19:09):
That gives you some clearinformation as well.
And, as always, we appreciateyour time and we know this is
going to be another great andsuccessful summer of camps and
we thank you so much for beinginvolved for all these years,
and we especially thank you forcoming in after an already busy
day and busy night and spendingsome time to promote the camps
(19:31):
with us.
So thank you so much, marlee.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Of course, thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, and now
it's time for the Curtain Call.
You can follow us on Spotify,Apple, Google or any podcasting
platform.
We have videos up on YouTubeand you can visit our website at
stepstothestagebuzzsproutcom.
And, as always, a special thankyou to our audio engineer, Joey
(19:59):
Rice, and our producer, KirkLane.
Without the two of you, thisshow would not be possible.
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