Enrollment is open for Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Five Days of Broadway’s musical theater camp. Students will learn different topics about musical theater, including acting, dance, musical theater, improv, puppetry, scene writing and acting on film. The camp is open to all experiences and will take place online.

Middle School Week is June 22-26. High School Week will take place June 29-July 3. Both sessions are $475/camper.

(Courtesy of Segerstrom Center)

Most of the faculty members are professional musical theater artists, including Chandra Lee Schwartz (Wicked, High School Musical and Hairspray) and Hector Guerrero (Evita, 42nd Street and West Side Story).

In an exclusive interview, Schwartz explained that when the pandemic happened, she didn’t question backing out of this camp. She knew this was something that had to continue – as they say in theater, “the show must go on.”

“The arts are so important to children, and I don’t want them to miss out,” Schwartz said. “We simply regrouped to make sure the camp would be an online success.”

Schwartz has been teaching acting and musical theater to children for more than seven years. She plans to cover basic parts of acting in the camp: fundamentals of picking and approaching material, acting intentions, objectives, musical games, online video auditioning and more. Teaching online is a new strategy for her and she plans to learn what each student needs for a fulfilling experience.

“I am very proud to be working with the Segerstrom Center on this project,” she said. “It has been a pleasure to partake in their positive and energetic approach to curating an online camp. It will be informative, fun and stimulating for students.”

Talena Mara, Vice President of Education at Segerstrom, said this camp can help students feel motivated and inspired, especially in the middle of a global pandemic.

(Courtesy of Segerstrom Center)

“This is a perfect time to learn new music, find new monologues, practice or choreograph your own dance moves, act out a scene in front of a mirror, write your own new play, or read about a show or play you have never read before,” Mara said. “There are so many ways to make the arts part of your daily life and now is a perfect time and opportunity to begin making creativity part of everyday life.”

Even though the camp is online, Mara assures that every student will receive the same knowledge and education in musical theater as they would in person.

“With planning and with some extremely talented teachers involved, we know students will learn so much and still have a great time. Of course, it will be slightly different participating in a digital camp, but it will still be valuable and super fun in ways that you can only get in the digital world!”

Mara also mentioned that anyone who would like to join the camp, but needs financial support, there are scholarships available. Anyone who is interested can find more information by writing to [email protected].

Registration for Five Days of Broadway is a first-come first-serve basis. Information on classes and how to sign up can be found at https://www.scfta.org/fivedays.

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