Happy Summer My Friends!
My name is Nicholas Bartell, and I am the new Director of Secondary Education here at Lyric’s Thelma Gaylord Academy. I’m thrilled to be talking a little bit about how we plan to make summer at the Academy a fantastic place to be! In order to provide more opportunities for your family’s young theatre fanatic, we are introducing four brand new one-week theatrical camps to complement our 2 week-summer production camp. Our hope is that this will make sure that children of all ages and interest levels have a place here at the Academy this summer.
For our youngest fans we will be offering the Children’s Jungle Jam (Ages 3-5) and Creative Drama: Theatre Magic for Wizards and Fairies (Ages 6-8), both taught by our Director of Primary Education Rozz Grigsby. These movement and acting based camps will work towards getting young theatre students comfortable with moving and grooving on stage, giving them a better understanding of their instrument as an actor and helping prepare them to take part in productions down the line.
I’m thrilled to be bringing an acting camp for our older students to the Academy with the Theatre of the Imagination camp (Ages 9-15). This week long camp focuses on the creative and imaginative aspects of theatre and performance. I will lead students in a number of games, activities, and performances that rely on students’ imaginations to think outside typical script work. The camp will involve elements of creative writing, monologue performance, scene work, pantomime, and role playing. On Friday, parents and friends will be welcome to come watch some of the students favorite creations from the week.
Kris Grimes, one of our incredible private voice teachers, will be heading up a musical theatre camp focusing on Rock Musicals (Ages 5-15). This week long camp will include singing and dancing to rock musicals, as well as staging a short rock presentation for friends and family! Special events include NYC and local rock musical artists making guest appearances, as well as learning how to use YOUR instrument (your voice and body) as a rock machine! You wont want to miss this awesome rock musical experience!
And of course be ready for the Academy’s 2-week production camp, where this year we will be putting on a production of Madagascar Jr. a delightful and upbeat musical based on the hit animated film that features incredible musical numbers, rocking dance numbers (including some hip hop!), and a wonderful script. This show is sure to make actors and audience members “move it, move it!”
Our goal with these camps is to make sure that those students seeking some summer theatre excitement will be able to find something attuned to their interest that can welcome them into the Lyric family. Please know that scholarships are still available for all of these camps, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at nick@lyrictheatreokc.com!
