Lights, Camp, Action!

Most people hear “summer camp” and think rope bridges, capture the flag, bonfires and s’mores. But for thousands of kids these days, “summer camp” conjures images more like those you’ll find in Disney’s popular “Camp Rock“: learning lines, practicing scales, rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing—and ultimately, basking in the warm glow of the spotlight. “We want kids who love theater and are passionate about it to feel like they fit in and that this is a place where they can realize their potential and their dreams,” says Konnie Kittrell, production director at Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts training camp in the Catskills known for famous alums like Natalie Portman and Robert Downey, Jr. Founded in 1975 by Carl Samuelson and his wife Elsie, Stagedoor Manor offers three-week sessions filled with classes in acting, voice, television and dance for campers ages 10 to 18 of all levels and experience.

Make no mistake—a summer at Stagedoor is a summer of hard work. However, Kittrell believes that children who are truly passionate about performing are ready and more than willing to work hard.

“For the true performer, the actual training—the process and the learning—is more exciting than the actual performance,” she says.

Kids interested in performing arts camp don’t necessarily have to look outside the city. Applause New York City, the popular year-round music and drama program based in the Upper East Side, offers week-long day camps in summer.

“We offer eight different weeks, and kids can take one week or all eight,” says Audrey Kaplan, founder of Applause NYC. “A lot of our kids go to sleepaway camp, but we felt there was a need for kids in the city who don’t go away for a two-month period of time but want one or two weeks of something specialized that they can focus on.”

At CampApplause, kids participate in all different types of performing arts classes including acting, music, singing and dancing. Best of all, each week provides something new and different, with themes to match. “We might have an American Idol week, followed by a Western week,” Kaplan says.

In fact, at CampApplause, one of the main objectives is to have fun, and any child with any level of interest or experience in the performing arts is welcome. “I don’t think you have to want it as a career. A lot of kids come in with friends and just think it will be fun,” Kaplan says. “That’s the best part of having it one week at a time—you don’t have to fill your whole summer with it.”

This year, however, Applause NYC will offer a sleepaway camp option for kids who do feel passionate about the performing arts and want to make them a substantial part of their summer. They’ll be running their performing arts programs for theater-loving campers at CampMed-O-Lark in Washington, Maine, this summer.

“There are so many kids who want that feeling of being away, that independence and freedom, and that’s something we can’t necessarily offer in the city,” Kaplan says. “If you want to do theater for most of your day, but still want to be able to enjoy camp life, then this is a great fit.”

Young musicians looking to hone their skills may find Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, Maine, to be a great choice. The 62-year-old music camp combines elements of a community music school and a summer camp, creating a musically intense but fun environment.

“You have the full range of musical activities—band, orchestra, chorus, jazz band, rock band, musical theatre, private lessons—in combination with traditional camp activities like sports, swimming, building, hiking, campfires, cookouts and mosquitoes,” says camp director Jamie Saltman. “Our camp gets its flavor from the combination of these things.”

Campers at Encore/Coda can schedule their three- to six-and-a-half-week sessions according to their musical skills and preferences. While there is a range of interest and skill among campers, all kids who wish to attend the camp must have taken private lessons or received class instruction in music for at least one year before they can enroll in the summer program. They must also be participating in an ensemble in order to qualify as a good candidate. “Encore is not a place for someone who just likes to listen to music; they have to be playing it,” Saltman says.

According to Saltman, the study of music is a metaphor for how one approaches life.

“The issues we address when working with a child in a musical setting are absolutely applicable to life—the idea that you work at something a little bit every day and you get better at it,” he says. “The more you work at it, the more fun it is, and the better you get at it, the more you can share it with other people.”

All summer camps have the potential to positively influence the kids who attend them by allowing them to be independent, form tight social communities and build confidence in an environment away from home. But Kittrell maintains that, for the right kids, performing arts camps offer something extra special.

“Like in ‘High School Musical‘ or ‘Glee,’ those kids who are interested in performance are a lot of times on the disadvantage because they’re misunderstood,” she says. “But when you’re at a camp where everyone believes in the same things you do, it validates your passion and helps you understand that you’re not different, you’re just part of a different group.”

Stagedoor Manor (right); Encore/Coda (left).

TAKING THE STAGE
A Round-Up Of Performing Arts Summer Camps

Day Camps

A Class Act NY

Applause New York City

AtlanticActingSchool

Broadway Artists Alliance

Brooklyn Arts Exchange

BrooklynMusicSchool

CampBroadway

DramaZone

Diller-Quaile School of Music