Sudbury Performance Group has another exciting summer lined up for kids who want to experience the performing arts.
Their annual summer youth camp returns again this July, offering four two-week sessions of learning about, and participating in, all things musical theatre.
Mark Mannisto, president of Sudbury Performance Group (SPG), said last year was their first year back live from hosting camp virtually during the pandemic. And while at times they had to readjust, more kids were allowed to participate, and the after effects of their camp experience went beyond the two weeks - namely, it brought families together in the community.
“The best thing we found is last year a lot of the kids ended up making friends with new people, and what ended up happening is because the kids ended up friends, so did the moms and dads, and they continued planning extracurricular activities throughout the year,” he said. “Once the camp was over, they still wanted to hang out with their new friends and so there was this social component that ended up being great for families.”
Another unexpected thing that happened as a result is many of the parents became SPG volunteers. “We rely so much on our volunteers, and when we look at not only the children but also the moms and dads getting involved that’s a huge plus for us.”
Held in two-week sessions and offered to elementary children up to grade eight, SPG’s Youth Company is a summer day camp where kids will be learning the essentials of stage performance including acting, choreography and vocals.
Mannisto said they will be taught by four highly-skilled local artists who will be their camp counsellors, and from the moment they arrive and for the entire two weeks, the kids will be rehearsing and working together to learn, and put together, all of the components it takes to stage the show they’ll be performing on the final day of camp.
“That’s the nice thing about camp, and the number one thing we encourage is inclusion and partnership amongst the children,” he said. “Everybody’s there for the same goals so in turn the kids are working very closely with one another and when you have a period of 10 days to put on an entire show everybody has to be extremely focussed and work together so they can’t help but become fast friends.”
Mannisto said their counsellors have all worked with SPG in the past and are familiar with working in a theatre setting, so they know what it takes to put on a show and they guide the children through teaching the songs, making the props and helping out with the sets and the costumes, while also helping the children learn all these skills.
“Our summer camps are always an amazing experience for the kids, and every child has tons of untapped talent that we hope they can discover. It’s an intensive two weeks of camp for the kids that, in a matter of two weeks, allows them to experience putting together an entire full stage musical production that they get to perform in front of family and friends at the end of the two weeks.”
Last year, they did four shows for each camp session that were original works written by the camp counsellors, and this year they will be choosing shows straight from the Broadway catalogue to perform.
As well, any child that participates in camp this year will be invited to be a part of SPG’s Christmas production of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Mannisto said they began offering this opportunity last year as a way to give kids a way to continue to be creative after camp was over.
“For a lot of these kids our camps are their first time trying out any type of performance art, and if they enjoyed their time at camp this could be their next step. So we provide them the opportunity to come back in the fall for rehearsals, continue the fun, and follow their new passion for performing by participating in our Christmas show.”
The first camp session begins July 4, and every two weeks thereafter.
To learn more about SPG’s Youth Company, contact them online, call 705-662-8518, e-mail [email protected] them, or check out their Facebook page for fees and other information.