OnStage! (8-14 Years)  

​What to Expect

    Please see our updated shows for OnStage! 
Please visit our Camp Updates page to view our changing procedures and protocols.

Do you need some more drama in your life? Then check out OnStage Theatre Camp! During every two-week camp session, children participate in all aspects of a musical production. Students not only act in the production, but develop true ownership by designing the lighting and sound, building the sets and props, and creating their own costumes.

Skills Developed
In addition to putting on the show, campers take a series of master classes every day, including stage combat, stage make-up application, lighting and set design, theatrical terminology and etiquette, memorization and auditioning techniques, playwriting, and theater history. Dependent upon each play, academic lessons in various subjects take place daily. From research about an earlier time period to author studies, we encourage campers to learn all they can.

Daily Activities
Each day begins with a musical theater movement/dance class and campers are taught specific dance steps that are common in musical theater auditions. They then move on to either scene rehearsal, prop design, set design, or music rehearsal. After lunch, students participate in that day's master class. Next come group rehearsals during which the large company numbers are choreographed and blocked. The day concludes with a variety of theatrical games designed to improve listening, speaking, and concentration skills.

Start a Portfolio
While the campers spend much of their day in Elmwood Franklin's state-of-the-art Johnston Theatre, we take every opportunity to venture outside for games, free time, and to take pictures in costume. Students are also given a professional 8x10 headshot taken by a professional photographer for use in future auditions. 

OnStage Director
Christine Cooke-MacVittie (EFS Drama Director & Teacher)

Who is it for?
Children ages 8 to 14

When does it run?
Three two-week blocks, for a total of six weeks. Unfortunately, individual weeks are not available.
Camp runs 9am-4pm, Monday through Friday. (See registration form for extended camp hours available).

Cost
$1000 for a two-week session, includes all activities and professional headshot.
(Digital and 8 x12 print)

Payment plans available.
Session 2 is $980 because camp is closed Friday, July 5.

Session One
​June 29-July 10
(No camp on July 3rd)

A simple one-act production of The Wizard of Oz gets derailed by missed cues, forgotten lines, and a renegade sound board op who refuses to play anything but dinosaur noises. A comedy that proves, when it comes to live-streaming theatre, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and it will be hilarious.
Virtual Performance on Friday, July 10 at 2:30pm

Session Two
July 13 - July 24 

This is a play about not being in a play, ironically expressed through a hilarious series of monologues, duets, and ensemble scenes. From early traumas involving a glory-seeking elementary school teacher to possible disturbances in the global climate, 30 Reasons Not To Be in a Play keeps the audience guessing just what scenario will be next. Stage fright, pinkeye, demanding directors,  -- these are only a few of the many things that can go wrong during the production of a play. In a series of hilarious examples, this play proves that drama can be a very dangerous thing and it must be avoided at all costs.
Virtual Performance on Friday, July 24 at 2:30pm

Session Three
July 27 - August 7

Each year, Mrs. Cooke-MacVittie has stated, "I don't even know why I show up each day! These 14-year-olds are so good, they can run the entire camp themselves." Well- what would transpire if that actually happened? During the first four weeks of OnStage, the staff and students will workshop writing the final show of the summer- together. We will explore what hilarious challenges and successes the students might have if left alone to their own devices at OnStage. Mixed with some advice from some of our more seasoned former campers, the question remains- "Will the Show Go On?" 

Virtual Performance on Friday, August 7 at 2:30pm