Camp Broadway engages local kids in drama and music

Song and dance filled The Plaza Arts Center July 11-15 as participants of Camp Broadway practiced their roles.

The camp is designed in a way in which kids practice a musical selected by the camp instructors for five days, and on the last day, they present their performance to the audience. A different musical is selected every year.

This year’s musical was “Stone Soup,” based on a folk tale in which hungry strangers come to a town, the residents of which tell them they have no food to feed them.

The strangers then say that they don’t need any because they can make soup out of a stone. Curious residents gather around the pot to watch what kind of soup will turn out of boiling stones, and then, upon testing, the strangers tell the villagers that although it turns out great, they need something else to improve the flavor. Thus, each resident of the town begins adding an ingredient, such as meat, potatoes, carrots, etc. to create a delicious meal that everyone enjoys.

“It’s very fun,” said Violet Schwartz. “I learned how to memorize lines and to be myself. Acting is fun, and you get to meet new people. You get to sing and dance, and I made new friends here.”

“I love it,” said Noah Chamblee, one of the narrators in the performance. “I love how you get to interact with other people, and I learned to sing.”

“The reason I do this camp is to be more talkative with people,” said another narrator, Sydney Bell-Sneed. “This camp helps me feel that I am with people of my own kind, people that understand me more. I am learning not to be sensitive around people.”

“This camp helps me be myself,” said Sofia Monroy, who played one of the travelers in the show. “I learned to be more active. Here you learn new material and apply skills you already have.”

“We do a lot of work to help to encourage kids to memorize the lines to prepare them and also to feel confident when they go on stage,” said choreographer Helen Garcia-Carreras.

“It’s always fun being with the kids in a learning environment. It’s enriching for me to be in this environment,” said Charles McGregor, counselor for the show. McGregor, a Morgan County High School senior, has been acting since he was in primary school. He is actively involved in performances at his school, as well as the other high school and college programs in Eatonton.

“Theater is one of those things that you can experience in the classroom,” McGregor said. “It’s a challenge. It’s different every time, and it’s a good difference. You can only learn by doing it and achieving.”

The Director of the production, Lora Garcia-Carreras, is also the founder of the Arts Barn LLC, behind The Plaza Art Center. The Arts Barn was founded 30 years ago and for many years was operating from Conyers until the Garcia-Carreras family moved to Greensboro seven years ago. Lora is a special education teacher, “and the rest of it,” she says, “is a lot of hands-on, real-life experience.”

“I was born to teach,” said Lora. “My mom was an excellent teacher and she raised me to be one. My passion is using talent for service. We take students to the area nursing home and perform. We perform for the terminally and critically ill children as well. It’s not a competition-based studio like many others.”

Lora started in the Appalachian arts, clogging and square dancing, which are the official folk dances of the United States, at a young age and was later able to represent the United States in folk festivals overseas.

Lora saw a need in the after-school program with more arts and physical activity, so she taught clogging in an afterschool program. Very quickly it turned into a studio that Lora was able to maintain while she was still in college in Conyers.

“Being a choreographer for color guards, marching bands and musicals at high schools around the area, I began to naturally flow into the theater world, and I’d like to continue building that because music and theater are the arts that speaks to people in a way that a lot of other activities may not. They open your heart in a way that it's difficult to find. Music is a universal language. It brings multiple generations together,” she said.

Vocal Director of Stone Soup, Donna Valvo, also brought significant benefits to the camp with her vast musical background. Originally from New York, Valvo spent 12 years in Atlanta working at Community Music Centers of Atlanta and Georgia State University, as well as teaching middle and high school music at the Galloway School.

She also created music directions for Broadway shows and worked with the Capitol City Opera Company. After living in Madison for six years, she moved to the Lake Oconee area, where she has lived for 12 years.

Other special thanks for the performance are offered to Sarah Christopher for the costumes, Lisa Gregor for painting the set, to Anenaca Simpson and Joseph Garcia-Carreras for operating spotlights, Seth Wicker for light and sound, to counselors Elisa and Helen Garcia-Carreras, Charles McGregor, and Seth Wicker; and to Helen Garcia-Carreras for choreography.

The Arts Barn offers various dance, theatre and music classes. The new classes, according to Lora, will start after Labor Day.

For more information about the activities and classes of The Plaza Arts Center visit plazacenter.org. To learn more about the Art Barn, please go to http://www.theartsbarn.net.