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It was a standing-room only crowd in Robinson Hall last night as every camper and counselor gathered for one of the most anticipated evenings of the summer: the annual camper play. The cast of “The Camp Musical” did not let the audience down, for their four weeks of preparation paid vast dividends in a show that was hugely entertaining. Director Kelly Zimmerman was amazed at just how willing the actors and actresses were to do anything that was asked of them, noting that “the campers have been a real pleasure to work with, and they brought a great energy to the night...and I can’t wait for next year’s play!” To read more about the play, see the comments of guest theater critic Emily Durlacher below, as well as comments from the two co-stars, Grace London and Will Shannon.
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 This year’s drama production was “The Camp Musical”, an inspirational play about overcoming stereotypes. From the first note of the first musical number, a spell was cast over the audience. The plot was about two kids from Pok-O-MacCready High (home of the Blueboars) who defy others’ opinions and speak out against stereotyping, which is what this camp embodies. Grace London, Will Shannon, Alex Sieger, Maggie Belshe, Nathan Swan, and Adina Shapiro gave brilliant performances in the leading roles. Highlights of the audition scenes were the Pioneer counselor duo of Frasier Reid and Alex Comeau, Squeaky with a fantastic opera, and Alex Gigantiello and Hannah Beilenson with amazing air guitar performances. Many thanks to directors Kelly Zimmerman and Diana Timko, for the musical was a fantastic success. |
Grace: I really enjoyed this new experience; I have had supporting roles before, but this was my first time in a leading role. The singing was my favorite part, and it was great to work with a lot of other people to put together a whole play.
Will: My favorite part was getting to meet and work with a lot of new people. I really enjoyed the singing and dancing, for that was a lot of fun. It was also cool to play with the props!
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Prior to the camper play last evening, campers and staff gathered to recognized a momentous occasion: Camp MacCready’s 40th year. Many MacCready alumna returned for this gathering, including longtime MacCready director Jean Sidaris, who ran MacCready from 1973 to 1995. Camp owner Jack Swan spoke about the founding of Camp MacCready, calling his creation of the girls camp his greatest legacy at camp and the act that he is most proud of. Jack told of the naming of
the camp after David MacCready, a “wonderful man” who worked with Jack’s grandfather. The audience also learned that Jack and his mother owned horses, and they decided that it would be appropriate to establish MacCready as a riding camp, and that this would also distinguish it from the boys camp. The celebration ended with a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday”, the sharing of a birthday cake (at right), and the promise of many anniversaries to come in the future.
