Musical theater program offers 6- to 13-year-olds a chance to
shine on stage
The Kids Rule Theatre Camp convened last week at Sacred Heart
School for a week of all things stage related, with a public finale
Friday evening.
”
This is eight years,
”
said Kristy Burchard, the founder and director of the
program.
”
San Benito Stage Company has been the title sponsor for all
eight years. It works out really well. It fits super well with
their mission of educating young people in what community theater
is all about.
”
The Kids Rule Theatre camp had 172 kids enrolled this year, ages
6 to 13. They spent the first four days of the camp working in
small groups, divided by age. There they worked on vocals, dancing
and other skills that will help them with future productions or
auditions. In addition, a group of 20 advanced students were
involved in the Encore Theater workshop, which put on a dramatic
production at the end of the week.
Musical theater program offers 6- to 13-year-olds a chance to shine on stage
The Kids Rule Theatre Camp convened last week at Sacred Heart School for a week of all things stage related, with a public finale Friday evening.
“This is eight years,” said Kristy Burchard, the founder and director of the program. “San Benito Stage Company has been the title sponsor for all eight years. It works out really well. It fits super well with their mission of educating young people in what community theater is all about.”
The Kids Rule Theatre camp had 172 kids enrolled this year, ages 6 to 13. They spent the first four days of the camp working in small groups, divided by age. There they worked on vocals, dancing and other skills that will help them with future productions or auditions. In addition, a group of 20 advanced students were involved in the Encore Theater workshop, which put on a dramatic production at the end of the week.
Burchard’s staff included a group of 10 instructors as well as dozens of volunteer counselors.
“All my dance instructors come from San Benito Dance Academy and they’ve been working with me for the last six years,” she said. “The vocal instructors have been active in San Benito Stage Company.”
Many of the counselors have also been with Burchard’s program for years.
“A large majority started with me as campers eight years ago,” she said. “I have campers (who are now counselors) who have returned every single year. They are coming back during their college break to do it because they love it so much. That is one key to making it so strong.”
Deanna Larsen, whose 13-year-old daughter April Robertson, was enrolled in the camp this summer agreed.
“For the counselors this is not just a summer job,” Larsen said. “They are really into the kids.”
Larsen, who served as the camp photographer, said she had a chance to go into all the rooms to see the kids working in their small groups so she got to see how well all the groups interacted with the counselors and staff.
It is her daughter’s first year of camp and she just recently got into theater. Robertson’s first show was the recent “Willy Wonka” children’s production put on by San Benito Stage Company.
“She caught the acting bug and (Burchard) encouraged her and her friend that they really should sign up,” Larsen said. “She just likes to be able to perform – singing and dancing. Everyone gets that chance. No one is singled out.”
Emily Henderson, 11, was part of the camp for a second year in a row. She signed up because she was in “Willy Wonka” and a lot of her friends were signing up for the camp.
Her favorite part of the camp is “probably my group and counselors, just hanging out. All the counselors are so funny.”
She said the camp helped her with auditions because the students had to audition for parts for their small-group performances. In addition to the group performances of “No Business Like Show Business” and “What a Wonderful World,” Henderson’s group will perform a song from “Mulan” and “Grease.”
Burchard said the Kids Rule students learned how to sing in a small group as well as in a large ensemble. They also learned what is called dance movement – a type of dance that tells a story.
“Those are two very key elements to musical theater,” she said.
The Encore students had to have at least two years of Kids Rule Theatre Camp as a prerequisite before they could sign up for it. She said she started the Encore group at the request of the students.
“In Encore, they are doing a strictly dramatic play with no singing and dancing,” she said. “They audition for the show on their first day of camp and six days later they produce a play.”
Norm Burchard, Kristy’s husband, directed the play, “A Mid Summer Night’s Midterm,” which is a take on Shakespeare’s play. She said it offers more of a challenge for the advanced students.
As for the Kids Rule camp, the students lived up to the Broadway theme with a full repertoire of Broadway hits.
“We have shows from the ’50s all the way up to ‘Footloose’ in the ’90s,” Burchard said.
She added that in addition to San Benito Stage Company, the San Benito Arts Council has been a big supporter of the camp for the last two years.
“The San Benito Arts Council has helped us out with some sponsorship,” she said. “They feel art education in our community is important. And it’s one of my mission statements to have performing arts education right here in Hollister.”
Sacred Heart also allowed the use of its facility for the camp.
“That is amazing in this day and age – to have a facility big enough to handle over 200 kids,” Burchard said. “We couldn’t do it out at the Granada Theatre.”
