Welcome back for another #TechTuesday! We hope you’re hungry for more of an inside look at what’s in store for our #EncoreSummer. Today we’re sitting down with Secondary Education Programs Manager Kelsey Meiklejohn to hear what’s giving her a “Happy Face.”
Encore: Which Encore camp(s) are you involved in this upcoming summer?
Kelsey Meiklejohn: Bye, Bye, Birdie YPE. I wish I could be involved in all of them, but I have one more summer of my Graduate Program!
Encore: What’s your favorite part of summer camp?
KM: My favorite part is hearing all of the ideas and creativity the students bring to the productions we put on at our Stage Door & Tech Camps. We always end up with some unique character moment or set piece that I would never have thought about. It is the students’ investment in the show that brings it to life, I am just glad I get to help guide us all working together!
Encore: What is the best memory you have from past camps you’ve worked on as staff?
KM: My favorite memory is the spirit days, especially seeing both students and teachers dress as their favorite musical characters. I remember one year the staff came as the Jets from West Side Story and I came in as The Little Redheaded Girl from You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. There are so many unique characters and both the campers and staff get to learn about more musicals!
Encore: Did you attend a theatre/arts camp as a child? If so, what’s been the most lasting impression that experience has had on you?
KM: I got to attend an Arts & Science camp as a child, and loved seeing how the arts and sciences truly work together! I would do theatre or dance in the morning and then organic chemistry or physics in the afternoon. The diversity of thought in the program was great and when we needed a stage effect with a bubbling cauldron we could use what we learned in the science classroom the day before to make it. It really instilled in me the importance of learning everything you can, because then you can engage with so many different aspects of theatre or other disciplines.
Encore: What are you most looking forward to about this #EncoreSummer?
KM: I am looking forward to introducing students to one of my FAVORITE musicals! Bye, Bye, Birdie is full of youthful energy and silliness and fun and getting to share that with students already has me singing “Put on a Happy Face” in the car!
Your faces will match Kelsey’s happy one if you join us for Stage Door/Tech Camp this summer. Wave bye bye to Birdie, rescue a princess with Shrek, or fly off to Neverland – no matter which adventure you choose, you’ll be treated to three weeks of collaboration, creativity, and fun! Click here to sign up for a summer camp today.
Photos by Aileen Pangan, Aimee Pangan, Shannon McCarthy, and Rosemarie O’Connor. Blog contribution by Shannon McCarthy.
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