We Did It!

I am thrilled to report that the 2010 Ramseur Performing Arts Camp was a huge success thanks to the hard work and awesome talent of the kids who participated!

We suspected on Monday that we were going to have a good week. We'd started learning the first few songs, and the kids seemed to be picking them up really fast! Halfway through the day, we stopped for lunch (and for the grownups to take a breather), and we let the music play on the sound system as background noise. After a little while, we realized that the kids who had finished their lunches were up at the front of the hall, doing the moves and singing the words - it's always a good sign when the kids like the music well enough to work on them on their own!

On Tuesday morning we assigned speaking parts and started working on memorizing. The kids were great - focused and eager to help each other. It's wonderful to see the kids with strong reading skills step up to help the younger kids figure out the harder words!

On Wednesday we start rehearsing the entire musical, start to finish. From that point on, we usually do the entire musical three or four times in a day. The kids were great! No matter how many times we repeated something, they put everything they had into it!

Thursday is when we go script-free. This is the day when I am reminded that as young as I feel, my brain will probably never work as well as it did when I was a child. After only two days with their scripts, the kids already have their parts memorized (mostly)! I have a hard time remembering my own phone number! We did our first full dress-rehearsal and recorded it so the kids could see the musical from the audience's perspective.

Friday was our last day of camp, and we celebrated with a pizza party at lunch. Mona Lisa (Ramseur) provided our pizzas and the kids provided their appetites - it was a good match! Getting ready for our final performance on Friday night always gives the kids a lot of energy, and they worked hard all day to get ready.

Finally, it was time for our performance! The audience was seated and the music for the first song started...and the kids rocked for the next 45 minutes! They all put in awesome performances - memorized lines flowed effortlessly, songs were right on time, and costume changes were smooth. By the time they took their last bows, the audience was having a great time, and so were the kids!

I'm happy to say that our video came out great (copies are available for $10), and we have a great record of the campers' hard work! If you'd like a copy of the DVD, just contact us by the e-mail to the right with your information.

We are already planning for next year's camp! Stay tuned for the details, and thank you for all your support and prayers!