Children's Summer Music Theater Boot Camp by I-Pei Hsiu Hodge
Take 35 kids, one theater with a leaking roof and no air conditioning, one petite director for whom two thirds of the kids tower over, eleven days of singing, dancing, and acting rehearsal before opening night, and what do you get? Mass chaos, unless your director is Wimberley dynamo Lee Colee'-Atnip, vocal coach and director of the Children's Summer Music Theater Boot Camp and the kids are ones who you may see on American Idol in about five years or Broadway in about ten. Granted, this ingredient list does not include the intangibles that make what Lee and her boot camp recruits do every summer possible. What it takes for children ages eight to fifteen to stage a full length musical for appreciative Hill Country audiences is pluck, courage, brains, a lot of heart, that limitless childhood belief that anything is possible over the rainbow, and of course, liberal sprinklings with the wand that is theater magic.
How appropriate then is it that this year's production for the eighth season of the Music Theater Boot Camp will be the Wizard of Oz. Lee believes that this production is the most ambitious yet, with the props and costumes and fantasy elements particularly suited to the children's sense of imagination. You won't be in Texas anymore, Toto, as the rigorous rehearsals give way to performing Munchkins, heel tapping ruby slippers, and the oft-followed yellow brick road. The only foreseeable weather-related woe will be a tornado of epic proportions, as this will be the second year that the camp will be held in the comfortable Wimberley Players Theater, eliminating the specter of excess heat and uncannily realistic rain falling onstage that plagued earlier years.
Yet how does one get from Kansas to the Emerald City while managing a production of such intensity and magnitude? The process begins in February and March, when Lee schedules private auditions with aspiring cast members. Children will perform a musical selection, tell a story, and their parents will be scrutinized for any signs of stage mother insanity, like screeching "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!" at inopportune moments. Following call-backs in April, the fortunate children who have journeyed successfully to Oz on the Colee' Cyclone will be notified that they will be camp participants. But as any Wizard of Oz aficionado can tell you, their journey is just beginning.
Summer Music Theater Boot Camp applicant Dorothy Anderson, age 10, shares the same hopeful trepidation and gumption approaching this program as her namesake character does approaching the Great and Powerful Oz.
"I just started singing about 4 months ago with Miss Lee. I'm a little nervous about what to expect...but excited."
Boot camp alumni Mallory Mazzarella, age 13, and Coy Branscum, age 15, look forward to their fifth season in the program, and are quick to agree that, while the intensity of the camp routine is not for the fainthearted, it is definitely for the fun-hearted.
"We are worked very hard but it pays off so much in the end. It's very fun," says Mallory. "You come away from the camp learning so much by having to mature so much in your acting and singing."
"It brings out the best in people," adds Coy. "We have people who come in nervous and shy and don't talk to anybody...this is me five years ago," he grins. "Five years ago I wouldn't have done this."
Three years later, however, Coy found himself in his first leading role as Curly in their production of Oklahoma.
"It just comes together wonderfully. When you get in front of the audience, the cast just somehow blossoms," says Mallory.
What Lee had hoped to do when she began the Boot Camp eight years ago was to provide a performance venue for children that previously had not existed in the area. She had not realized what powerful bonds of friendship and family would result for the children in each camp experience.
"What I am most proud of is that everyone ends up loving each other and supporting each other. It's a very positive experience." Lee says.
Indeed, for young actors who consider the stage their home, "There's no place like home."
FYI
Kids 8-15 years old are invited to audition for the 8th annual music theatre boot camp. Camp dates are June 9th through June 29th and consist of 11 days of intense preparation and rehearsals followed by 7 performances of The Wizard of Oz at the Wimberley Players Theatre.
Auditions will be scheduled by appointment in February and March with 35-40 children to be selected for multiple roles. Those auditioning must be prepared to sing a memorized song with either karaoke accompaniment or bring sheet music in the proper key. They must also plan to tell a short story and bring a head/shoulders photo. Contact director Lee Colee'-Atnip at 512-847-7934 or lee@atnip.net. Additional information is available at www.leecoleestudios.com.
