<p>Any more third session stories?</p>
<p>Hi Everyone- this is the first opportunity to post since returning home from Session III performance weekend at SDM. All went well. My D was in âGodspellâ which, of course, I thought was wonderful! Again, Kent, as Jesus, blew everyone away with his beautiful voice. The young man who played Judas was excellent also. In my very biased opinion, I think my D did a great job also as well as the whole cast! </p>
<p>Defying Gravity-my D told me she met you and we saw your show!!! It was wonderful (Little Shop of Horrors)! We enjoyed it very,very much. Sorry we didnât get to meet in person, maybe next year? </p>
<p>I know many kids go for 6 weeks (and some 9) but my D felt 6 weeks was a little long for her personally (she is 15.) I think next year she will go for 3, she just needs to decide what session (for us it would have to be session II or session III.) She feels each has its pros and cons. Anyone have any thoughts? (It wasnât the theater part of it that was too long, she could never get enough of that, it was missing her own bed at night and I would like to think missing Mom & Dad too.) She said she was never homesick until the last week and half.</p>
<p>We also saw âChicagoâ which was the first time I have seen a âdanceâ show at SDM. Loved it. My D, who I had to drag screaming and kicking to dance class as a preschooler, now blames me for not âforcingâ her into dance classes when she was younger! LOL. She is now taking ballet and tap (level I) as a teenager. Oh wellâŠbetter late then never!</p>
<p>Once again D had a great time, met some terrific new friends and was able to hook up with old ones. Our only complaint is that lodging for parents isnât the greatest in the Catskills and there isnât much to do when you (parents) arenât attending a show.</p>
<p>Quick question, my D loves opera and attends performances here locally and the Met when she has the opportunity. Does anyone know of a summer Opera program (on the idea of SDM) for teens?</p>
<p>I am so thrilled to hear how well Kent did at SDM. I think I know this young man! (my oldest D went to same school he did for a short timeâsaw his picture on the SDM website and D recognized him, so pretty sure it is the same Kent . . .) I heard him sing a couple of years ago, and was blown away then. So glad to hear heâs doing so well. The camp sounds wonderffulâIâm hoping my younger D can go one summer (which is why I lurk here off and on), though right now it looks like that wonât be for a couple of years until she is in high school because of choir commitments during the summer.</p>
<p>ontherun</p>
<p>I donât believe opera programs begin until age 19, but Iâd love to know for my d also. She also loves the Met and is definitely leaning toward vocal performance as a college major in the future.</p>
<p>Several places have vocal programs - they most likely do not end in an actual opera production. Check out OCU, Northwestern, Interlochen. Also, âRising Star Singerâs Audition Worksâ (can be found online by search) is headed by CCM voice faculty, although not affiliated with the school, nor held on-campus. They actually DID present an opera at the end of their summer session, but I donât know if they still have a HS section, or if it is only college age. (They DID have HS the first year or two, but I think they may have dropped that for older singers.) Iâm sure there are more - these are just ones I am familiar with.</p>
<p>Please realize that I am not well versed on these programs or this topic and do not have a child in opera (though ironically she has performed around the country in one and might be workshopping another this year) but she is not an opera singerâŠ</p>
<p>but I do like helping out and did the most PRELIMINARY search without reading further into the programs as I simply do not have the time but it might be worth reading websites of these below as they MIGHT have a good offering for vocalists/opera singersâŠ</p>
<p>Aspen Music Festival
Banff Center of the Arts
Bay View Music Festival
College Light Opera Company
Spoleto Arts Symposium
Westminster Choir College
Pepperdine College - Seaver College - Fine Arts Division
Spazio Musica (Italy and Paris)</p>
<p>Again, this is not comprehensive, and the programs may not fit the bill but it is a beginning searchâŠread about them, delve further than I have time for. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Hi, all! I guess itâs my turn to âshare with the group.â 
My daughter (12) and her friend (13) attended SD for the first time third session. They both enjoyed the experience immensely and made many new friends, as expected and predicted by the âveteranâ SD parents. </p>
<p>There is a lot I could share⊠but Iâll try to edit myself to keep to the most pertinent observations that may be of interest and help to others.</p>
<p>First, the shows: We saw âLittle Shopâ on Friday afternoon and âChicagoâ on Saturday night. Defying Gravity: we loved âLittle Shop!â Everyone was terrific! Seymour, Audrey, the dentist⊠all very well cast and impressive. Especially Chadâs death-by-asphyxiation scene â wow! And we at least got to hear Kent as âThe Voice of the Plant.â Although his voice was a little bit âmuffledâ in sound, I was glad we got to hear Kent sing after having read so much about him. In sum, a very entertaining and well-done show!</p>
<p>âChicagoâ was also excellent. The casting was virtually flawless. In a cast of extremely impressive actors, I have to say that Velma, Billy, and the Matron were particular stand-outs. The dance numbers were uniformly excellent.</p>
<p>I wish we could have seen âGodspell,â but it was in the same group as my daughterâs and her friendâs shows. But the âbuzzâ in Loch Sheldrake was that it was a wonderful show!</p>
<p>Likewise, I could not see âThe Wiz,â my daughterâs friendâs show. We did see the last couple of scenes on Friday, since my daughterâs show finished first. We heard from my daughterâs friend and her family that âtenormomâsâ son (the Lion) was terrific. I saw him outside the theater, and my friend (daughterâs friendâs mom) told him (and us) that he had done a terrific job. Apparently, his singing voice was fully recovered by showtime. We are so glad that he came through his bout with bronchitis and was able to perform. He seems very friendly and gracious, in addition to being talented (not a bad combination!).</p>
<p>My daughterâs friend was cast in the chorus of âWiz,â and was named dance captain. Her photo is in the SD gallery, interacting with with âDorothy,â wearing a lovely green gown (it was a beautiful dress). I understand she had a lot of costume changes, which I am sure kept things interesting backstage. She also was thrilled to receive an âoutstanding chorus memberâ award Saturday night. She loved her director, James Bond, who apparently recognized her contributions to the show.</p>
<p>Similarly, my daughter adored her director in âOnce On This Island,â Catherine Cox (and vice versa, based on Catherineâs conversation with me). The show and the music were engaging and it was a terrific experience for both cast and audience. </p>
<p>I had heard the Broadway cast album but had never seen the show, so I was not sure what my daughterâs part as one of the âStorytellersâ would be. It turned out that she had a lot of lines and solo song segments, as well as dancing in practically every scene, prominently placed. I was a little surprised that a couple of the leadsâ roles did not seem as âmeatyâ as her âchorusâ role. (To the point of my thinking to myself, âGee, Iâm really glad she was a Storyteller rather thanâŠâ) Well, not having seen the show before I didnât âgetâ it right away, but my daughter explained that she and another girl were given lines and lyrics from others who were not quite up to the task. So the director was able to fine-tune the show to correct a couple of casting âmissteps.â </p>
<p>Having said that, I need to say that almost everyone in the cast was wonderfully talented and did a great job. What a fun show! My daughter was excited to receive a âbest featured actress in a musicalâ award at the end of camp. </p>
<p>Both girls loved their classes and felt they learned a lot in a short time. My daughterâs favorite teacher was David M. for Musical Audition. Her friendâs favorite classes were Ballet III and Fosse.</p>
<p>About accommodations⊠I unfortunately cannot recommend the Swan Lake Hotel, which is where we stayed. The photos and information on the web site and in the promotional materials look promising. We picked it primarily because of the golf, tennis, and pools (indoor and outdoor) because we wanted lots of off-camp options for the girlsâ brothers. Based on the size of the public areas this hotel was no doubt grand in its heyday; however, those days have LONG since passed. It was clean enough, I suppose, but OLD and with few in-room amenities. My husband said that the golf course was decent, and a real bargain. And the boys played lots of tennis. It was sort of an adventure⊠or rather, a misadventureâŠ</p>
<p>Dinner at Mannyâs on Saturday was good and is apparently a favorite of many SD families. We also had brunch at the Liberty Diner (also good) and ice cream at Pandaâs Parlor in Liberty (a favorite with the kids). Last year, when my daughter and I came down for a visit first session (we saw âSeussicalâ and âGreaseâ), we had dinner at Piccolo Paese (northern Italian) and it was wonderful.</p>
<p>So now we are back to Real Life. My daughter has added photos from Stagedoor to her screensaver âslide show,â and plans to keep in touch with her new friends. (Right now, she is nursing a sore throat which we hope will be better for tomorrow night, when she has an audition for Full Cast Audio, a books-on-tape producer.)</p>
<p>Overall, we would recommend Stagedoor Manor to both campers-to-be and their parents. Sincere thanks to all of the parents and campers who gave us information and advice before our SDM journey!</p>
<p>Thanks for the âreportâ. It is always thrilling to hear of new kids who have discovered Stagedoor Manor and are smitten and loved their experience⊠watch out MomâŠthey are destined to want to go back every year and not just three weeks. Glad to hear someone else enjoyed what my child found there over the years. </p>
<p>Sounds like some great shows. </p>
<p>With Once on This Island, it sounds like the director took some liberty with the switching of lines/roles but in that show, that can work. It also is a musical that has a lot to go around. Also, perhaps if lots of the younger kids were brand new, it is harder to cast because while you can assess talent in an audition, you still donât truly know what a kid is like to work with and the extent of that and so Iâm sure there is more adjustment needed than when casting kids they have worked with before. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing. As I type this, my D is on the phone with her close buddy who played Jekyll/Hyde first session and the lead in AidaâŠthey have not been able to speak since camp and he was in Europe and so now she is getting the lo down on second session, a bit after the factâŠlol. SDMâŠit will always be with her even if she has âmoved onââŠ</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Thanks to all who offered suggestions on programs for opera. We will do some research now that we know where to look!</p>
<p>Aww MOm4life, David M. was my director. He was fantastic. I love him,great for a first director and I was thrilled to perform in the Elsie the first year. If anyone say Little Shop I was one of the nurses in the dying Chad scene lol. I said something liek he has a very bad toothache.</p>
<p>Also does anyone have any info on the Applause workshops in NYC?</p>
<p>David M. is a great director and my daughter is quite fond of him. I only wish she had gotten to do more shows with him over the years. She did Perfectly Frank and Oklahoma with him when younger. Great shows. I saw him when we went to the 30th anniversary bash in July because he was not there this year during first session when my D went. I had to tell him that a solo song that he had added for my D in Perfectly Frank at age 9âŠturned out to be one of the songs she used for some of her college auditions (the ones that required a pre 1960 song) and how it is pretty funny that she used what she had performed way back then that he had directed her on! DF, glad you got to work with him.
Susan</p>
<p>DefGrav - my S did Applause for 2 sessions. It is run by 2 former SDM women who were best friends. Actually one has just moved to Ca and so I see there is a new partner. Anyway, it was fun but not a situation where you learn and train. They come up with a theme and then put on a musical review with all the skits and songs revolving around that theme. For instance, he did âCollege Dazeâ and all the songs were about going off to college, being in college and the general experience.
What is nice is that there is no star.Kids come with different degrees of talent-some are great singers, some like to act etc. Kids are placed in numbers, sometimes the entire cast (about 20 kids do it each session) is in a number, sometimes a hand full-some times you have solos in songs, sometimes you are with others. They make everyone do it all-sing, dance, act but it varies to the degree with which you do it. If a girl is a great dancer, she may be front and center in all the dance numbers, but she is also present singing and acting in other numbers. They meet every Saturday from Sept to Jan and then the last week they meet alot and put on a show. It was in the DeCapio (?) Theater uptown.There is musical accompaniment. My S had alot of fun and made alot of friends. It cost about $750-800 each session, there is an audition (although I never heard that they turned anyone down willing to pay, but they just want to make sure that the child has a modicum of talent). The sets are very minimal and so are the costumes-it is not a BIG show but rather a fun interpretation of a theme. For those who live in the city, it is a breeze. Since we live on Long Island, it involved a train each weekend and sometimes a cab-it really took up his entire Saturday. If you want to really immerse yourself in something where you will get training-singing, dancing etc. this isnât really the program. But if you just want to be in a show, and meet other kids who like to sing, dance, act, then this is fine for that.</p>
<p>Awsome. Im really looking into it.</p>
<p>Ablestmom-Washington National Opera offers âOpera Institute for Young Singersâ, a 3 week performance training program, age 15 - 18. Kids attend classes (similiar to SDM only related to opera) and at the conclusion of the session, a recital is held and all the kids participate in it. Kids must currently be studying Italian arias and unlike SDM, auditions are held in order to attend. Tuition is $1,700 and an additional $775 for boarding. Participants can earn 1 college credit for an additional $210 (these are all 2005 prices.) You can find out more on the Washington National Opera website. My D is interested in looking into it further (we live in No. Va so she could commute.)</p>
<p>Thank you ontherun - sounds very, very interesting!!! Weâll definitely look into this for next year. I love the age range!</p>
<p>OMG Susan! All I can say is your D. is so lucky to be friends with Miles! Heâs so incredibly hot!* god I sound like such a little girl* But he is. I can see why the Wb wanted him and I heard he is talented as heck.</p>
<p>Hi everyone. I havenât been on for a while so I missed all the posts. Mom4Life, thanks for your kind comments about my S. Iâm sorry I couldnât see your Dâs show but Iâm sure it was a thrill to see her perform so well. Iâm glad that she and her friend liked Stagedoor so much.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Wiz. I thought everyone did an excellent job and I know my S had a great time doing it. I also saw Little Shop of Horrors. DF, that was a great show to be in first time there. I have seen that show numerous times professionally and I thought the kids did an incredible job.
For the first time this year I saw the Our Time Cabaret. It was great. It is amazing how many talented kids are there. Kent does have a beautiful voice and I was glad to hear him sing after hearing so much about him here.</p>
<p>tenorsmom, we saw the wiz dress rehersal and your son was amazing!My friends were in it as the three witches so it was very fun.</p>
<p>Anyone think itâs time to revive this thread?</p>
<p>Whoâs going this summer? My D is going 1st and 2nd session, and she canât wait!</p>