Stage Camp

July 07, 2010

It’s a curtain call for kindergartners.

Musical theater for middle school students.

A high wire act for high schoolers.

This summer at Rowan University, the summer theater camp experience Learning Stages is entertaining, educating and exposing dozens of youngsters to the joys of theater.

And, it’s giving Rowan students an opportunity to gain experience managing a stage production – everything from lighting and sound to art direction.

Executive director Renee Post, an adjunct professor in Rowan’s College of Communication who helped found Learning Stages while a student herself 20 years ago, said the month-long program is a veritable workshop in theater arts.

“They’re out playing at lunch but during the morning and afternoon it’s hands-on theater,” Post said.

She said about 75 students are attending camp this summer, staged for the first time in Rowan’s historic Tohill Theatre in Bunce Hall.

Post said Learning Stages, originally founded as the Gloucester County Summer Drama Workshop, began as an alternative to the more traditional sport-specific camps many children attend.

The program, from nine to three Monday through Friday, focuses on both performance and production and culminates with actual stage shows in Rowan’s Pfleeger Concert Hall.

On July 23 and 24 this summer’s youngest group, Shining Stars, will perform the musical “Candyman” and students in the middle age group, Day Dreamers, will perform “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” On July 30 and 31 students in the older group, Star Gazers, will perform the musical “Songs for a New World.”

“The kids have a blast,” Post said. “But that’s not all they get out of it. They learn to read better, to speak in public and to work as a team.”

Just as important as the experience center stage is what some find behind the stage, among the lights, pulleys and sound equipment that make theater work.

“There’s more to making it in theater than just the front of the stage,” she said. “There may be kids who are really gifted in sound, set design and lighting.”

Senior Matt Wagner, 22, of Audubon, is one of three Rowan students who landed paid internships as stage managers through the program this summer. Wagner, a theater and radio/television/film double major, said summer is the best time for him to gain real world experience.

“Every theater has its own dynamic and the more people you work with, the more experience you have, the better off you are,” said Wagner, who seeks a career as a cinematographer or lighting designer. “I have experience working with children now.”

Wagner looks up as, across the stage, the young performers play a game called “Wax Museum.” The students stand, frozen in place, while the “curator” walks through the museum and if she sees them move they “melt,” must leave the stage and go off to lunch.

“They’ve been singing for three hours now,” Wagner said. “This is a great way for them to relax, cool down and blow off steam.”

Sounding mature beyond her years, Kyla Bass, 12, of Paulsboro, said the summer program is going great.

“I’ve been in a few other theater companies and this one really stands out,” she said. “The games, the dancing, the singing… it’s all fun.”

Another old pro, Belle Nicholas, 11, of West Deptford, simply concurred.

“I’ve been doing this for five years and I love it,” she said. “I like anything with singing and dancing. I want to perform for a really long time.”

Learning Stages is a non-profit organization that conducts programs throughout the year. For more information, visit Learning Stages online.