CRT Offers Summer Theatrical Day Camps for Youth

Cortland Repertory Theatre's "CRT Kids" program offers two upcoming day-camps for children and young adults interested in the theatrical arts.

"Stars of Tomorrow" is a four week program running from June 25 – July 21 and will be held at the Little York Pavilion in Dwyer Park, the summer home to CRT. The program will run Monday – Friday from 9:00 – 2:00 and is open to any 5th-12th graders in the 2011-12 school year. Nominal fees are charged by the day, week or for the entire session. Students will experience all aspects of theatre including acting, improvisation, scene study, technical design, scenic painting and more. Participants will present a final performance free of charge on Saturday, July 21. The camp is supervised by Bill Coughlin, a Central New York actor, director and drama instructor at Mexico High School. Mr. Coughlin holds an MFA in Theatre from Brooklyn College and his work ranges from Shakespeare to children's theatre. His directing credits include CRT's "The King and I", "The Sound of Music" and "The Wizard of Oz"; acting credits include CRT's "Over The River and Through the Woods" (for which he won Best Actor at the Syracuse Area Live Theatre Awards), "Annie Get Your Gun", and "South Pacific" to name a few.

"Showstoppers and Superstars" will be held at the Homer Center for the Arts, 72 South Main Street in Homer, and is offered in two separate weeks: July 23 – 28 and July 30 – August 4. Students may sign up for one or both weeks for a nominal weekly fee. Each day will have two sessions: "Showstoppers", for students in K - 2nd grade, will meet from 10:00 – 1:00. "Superstars", for students in grades 3 - 5 will meet from 2:00 - 5:00. This lively and energetic day camp focuses on building self esteem, teamwork and creative problem solving through the musical theatre arts of acting, singing, and dancing. Over the week, the students will participate in the creative process of writing their own original musical which will be performed free of charge on the final day. Sessions are supervised by Tammy Holder, a New York City-based musical teacher and arts educator, a field she has worked in for 19 years. She currently is a teaching artist at TADA!, NYC's leading youth development theatre and in NYC public schools. She also has completed residencies in North Carolina, Wisconsin, New Jersey and upstate New York. Tammy is an accomplished music director, with the CRT credits of They're Playing Our Song, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Mikado, and last season's record-breaker Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

For more information or to obtain application forms for either workshop, please visit cortlandrep.org and click on the "CRT Kids" button, call the CRT office at 607-753-6161 or visit 37 Franklin Street during regular business hours. Class space is limited so call today!

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