The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Three weeks of auditioning, writing and rehearsing came to a head July 16 for more than two dozen local teens as they took to the stage at Villagers Theatre.
The students were part of the Villagers’ Teen Performance Workshop camp, which gives youths aged 12 to 16 years a taste of what it’s like to prepare and put on a theatrical production.
The students are given a theme, 20 musical numbers from five Broadway shows and 11 scenes, which they then weave into a narrative, said Terri Seggio, who directed the production for the camp’s first session this summer.
“It’s three weeks, but we put the show together in seven days,” Seggio said.
The theme for this production – the first of two in the theater’s summer camp program – was “living in the here and now,” Seggio said.
“We tell them as teens it’s really about the present, you don’t want to be too nervous about what’s coming, you don’t want to worry too much about the past, because then you’re not living in the moment and enjoying what’s going on,” she said.
The students are told the theme at the beginning of the camp, after which some volunteer for the writing workshop and create the narrative, she said.
For this session, musical numbers were chosen from “Guys and Dolls,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “West Side Story,” “Bring it On,” and “Grease,” she said.
“It’s really cool because the kids really take ownership of putting the show together,” Seggio said.
Seggio also gave credit to musical director Carl Phillips, his assistant, Kiera Radvanski, and recent Franklin High School graduates Frankie Fernandez and Kristin Seggio, who also acted as assistants.
“It’s really a collaborative effort,” she said.
The second session runs from July 20 through August 8. Seggio said a new theme will be chosen and five new shows will be picked.
2015 Villagers Teen Camp
