WPAC hosting back-to-back summer camps

The Wilson Performing Arts Center is hosting two theatre camps to close out the month of July.
Currently, theater youth are in the midst of “Disney’s Frozen Jr.” theatre camp, which WPAC executive director Val Zane said is being led by two well-known performers with the WPAC.
“The camp is being directed by Julie Murren and Becca Jackson, who are both amazing and we just love them. They’ve done so many camps and directed shows here and performed in shows here and sometimes have just volunteered to work. They really have done so many things for us in the past,” said Zane. “The turnout for this camp has been absolutely phenomenal. We have, I believe, about 40 kids signed up for that. They recently finished their auditions and the cast is now known. Some of the characters have multiple performers. There’s an adult Anna and Elsa, and you get to see them grow up and see different versions of them. For the kids wanting to play Anna, there were multiple age ranges for them allowing them to have a shot to play her.”
The roles will be played by Carrington Newlon, Madison Ripplinger, Stella Beeson, Camryn Ripplinger, Paige Nichols, Renae Ripplinger, Lucy Gandy, Emmalin Newlon, McKenna Piest, Emma Kroon, Anna Lucky, Naomi Niskin, Maggie Burt, Regan Baker, Autumn chappell, Elizabeth Smith, Genevieve Kozal, Anna Laprell, Kai Douthit, Miriam Anderson, Berkley Blay, Ofelia Balta, Jade Jensen, Sidney Johnson, Skylar Johnson, Willow Marsh, Zadie Rohrig, Chailey Messing, Ruby Robuck, Clara Sunderman, and Khloe Wagaman.
Zane said that this camp will be unlike the others they’ve done in years past at the Wilson.
“This is the first time we’ve done a show at the end of our week-long camp. They’ve done these things at other theaters, and I’ve always been kind of curious about how that would go here, and now we’re going to find out,” explained Zane. “The kids are super excited, and I think the parents are too, because like they come by a lot asking questions about the camp and getting all jazzed about it and like the things that are going to go into it.”
While excitement is building among those cast in roles, Zane said there’s much more to the camps than just acting.
“At our camps, you not only get on stage, but you get to learn the behind the scenes stuff, which is always amazing. We’re going to have kids doing the lights and the sound and they’re going to be making their costumes and building their set pieces and their props and all the things they’ll need for the show,” stated Zane.
At the completion of the camp, the show will be staged two times for audiences, July 25 at 6:30 p.m. and July 26 at 2:30 p.m.
“Our season pass holders get in free to this show, and otherwise the cost is $10 for reserved seating. We’re getting into the really hot time of the summer, so this is a good way to get indoors, beat the heat, and see all of our amazingly charismatic campers bring Arendelle to life on The Wilson stage. Additionally, all the proceeds will go to support the Wilson Scholarship Fund,” advised Zane.
Right after the “Frozen Jr.” camp ends, the Wilson will jump right into its fourth annual special needs adult summer theater camp which will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. July 27-31. Family and friends are invited to join in the fun of the camp suring the session on July 31.
“We’re super excited. Candy Garey is the director of this camp, and I just offer help and support. This year, she’s definitely going to need all the help she can get because we have 52 individuals signed up for this camp this year. Every year, everyone who was in the camp the year before signs up again, and with the new attendees our numbers just keep growing every year,” commented Zane. “It’s really booming.
The first year we had maybe a dozen people signed up and now here we are with more than 50 people signed up for the camp this year. In fact, when we see the prior camp participants in the community throughout the year, they always give us hugs and bring up the camp and make sure we’re doing it again for the next year.”
The camp is free to all of its participants thanks to a sponsorship by Parker Hannafin. Zane said they’ll need help with the camp this year.
“We rely on a lot of community support for snacks, and Mark Jackson gives us water for our camps and for all of our programs so that we can raise money for our scholarship funds. If people want to come volunteer at the camp, that would be amazing. We could always use hands helping us with especially like the arts and crafts portion of the camp, and stuff like that,” Zane said. ”It’s really fun to help. We get a lot of 4-H’ers and teens in the community that come and help.”
The special needs camp has no particular theme, and is driven by the participants.
“The program is whatever the individuals want to do. We themed it ‘Anything Goes’ this year, because we asked them in their sign up sheet, what do you like and what do you not like, and we build the camp around that. Usually they say they don’t want to be bored. That’s the number one thing that they write. I do not like to be bored either, so we make sure it’s not boring. We do exercises with them in the dance studio. We do arts and crafts with them in the rehearsal hall. The biggest part of the whole thing is we get them on stage and we get them to be audience members as well. This year it sounds like we’re going to have a pretty big audience to be able to watch everybody up on stage. They like to rock out on stage. They sing things like ACDC and Metallica and it’s awesome. They do a lot of like musical like type productions. They like to get involved with the props and we’re just there to help them have fun through the camp.”
In addition to volunteer help, Zane said they could use some additional snack items and craft items as well.
“We do have some food on hand, but its not enough for that camp because we’re going to have more than 50 people. In addition to the campers themselves, we’ll have people helping. We can definitely use allergy safe food for people that have special allergies or special food restrictions can eat,” advised Zane. “Gluten free foods would be beneficial, some vegan things, things that don’t have peanuts in them, and other food like that. So like we have a lot of the unhealthy stuff, which we could always use more, but we could use a lot of those healthy or kind of like filling, checking those boxes kind of things, you know. We can also definitely use art supplies. We do a lot of arts and crafts, and we like the individuals to have their own markers, crayons, construction paper, popsicle sticks, you know, we build puppets and things like that using popsicle sticks. So anything like that. It doesn’t have to be brand new. It could be something that is already in your cabinet. We’re always accepting donations used or new.”
The special needs summer camp, Zane felt, was one of the most important things on their roster.
“I would argue that it is like the most important thing. Part of our mission is to make sure that the arts are accessible to everyone. So this hits that one right on the head. The idea that people who would otherwise maybe not be able to do a camp like this for whatever reason Much like the scholarship fund helps people who maybe don’t have the money to participate, this is an opportunity that special needs adults may not otherwise have. The community is great it has a lot of different opportunities, but this is a unique one where they get to be involved. And I think not only can you see it on their faces that they absolutely love it, but you can see it on our faces that we love it too. To me, it’s the best event of the year,” stated Zane. “I couldn’t say enough good things about this camp and about Candy, who is phenomenal with everything. This is an idea that I had a long time ago and she kind of just took the bull by the horns as they say. She puts her heart and soul into this event every year, as do a lot of community members. This is one of those events that nobody says no to helping with, however they can.”
While the official slots are filled for the “Frozen Jr.” camp, Zane said they might be able to do some additional squeezing.
“I would just say if they want to come and check things out or if they want to try to learn something, they could just give us a call. We’d probably not formally add them to the camp. But there’s still something they could probably learn. We’d be happy to make those arrangements,” commented Zane. “There’s a lot of great reasons to come to camp. We have scholarships available for them because, again, we fundraise year long so that campers can go to camp for free or reduce prices depending on what their needs are, and so if they want to attend camps next year, they can certainly have chances for doing so.”
As for the special needs camp, Zane said they are also officially full, but could make some arrangements.
“We are no longer accepting applicants for a special needs adult camp. However, never say never. If somebody does have somebody that they feel would benefit from the camp, just give us a call.”
To get more information, donate, or volunteer for the camp, call 623-3135. For tickets to “Frozen Jr.” Call 623-3183 or visit wilsonartscenter.org.