Kennedy Doan portrays “Mayzie the Lazy Bird” during last year’s Summer Fun Camp production of “Seussical JR.”Colleen Laliberte and Jessica Laliberte Bowman are gearing up for another year of Skwalking Heads’ Summer Fun Camps, starting with Music Theatre Drama Camp, being held Monday-Friday, June 6-17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The camp has been relocated from the MACC to Bachman Community Center’s auditorium.
Participants in the two-week camp will be rehearsing “Philadelphia Chickens” by Sandra Boynton and will perform the musical at Bachman Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m. The performance will be followed by a party for the cast.
Laliberte has been offering summer theater camps for kids at the MACC for the past 17 years along with Bowman, her daughter, who does most of the choreography for their productions.
Bowman is a faculty member of the Dance Department at Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts and resident choreographer and director of its modern-dance company, Project Motion. She has choreographed productions for the Signal Mountain Playhouse, Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Closed Door Entertainment and UTC, said her mother.
“We have so much fun introducing our campers to different styles of dance during camp,” Laliberte said.
In addition to acting, singing and dancing, campers will be involved in every aspect of the production, including designing and painting scenery and props and putting together costumes.
Laliberte said she got the idea to do “Philadelphia Chickens,” a barnyard musical she did once 13 years ago, when a parent asked her about the T-shirt she was wearing featuring dancing chickens, which had been designed by that summer’s campers.
“We’re always looking for something fun involving a big cast with lots of roles that is really an ensemble show,” she said.
Open to rising kindergartners through rising ninth-graders, the camp is appropriate for actors from a wide range of experience levels, said Laliberte.
“It’s a wonderful alternative for summer activities that’s dynamic and gets kids thinking and moving and having fun,” she said.
The cost for the camp is $300, plus a supply fee of $50. Before- and after-care is available upon request.
To register, visit bachmancc.org.
Internship opportunities are available for high school students, and Laliberte said many of the former campers come back after high school or college graduation to volunteer or work as assistants during camp. For more information, email her at skwalking@hotmail.com.
Bachman is at 2815 Anderson Pike and can be reached at 886-4842.