Nativity BVM Catholic High School in Pottsville is trying something new this summer by hosting a week-long theater arts camp for area high school and college students.
"It's a theater camp as opposed to a formal course, but the level and hours of instruction they will receive will be equivalent to a freshman-level college course. I had run a similar camp here at Eastern Illinois University for several years for service/community outreach," the organizer, Christopher J. Mitchell, a professor of theater arts at Eastern Illinois University, said Thursday.
It will be held at the 1 Lawton's Hill school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from July 28 to Aug. 1, and will conclude with student performances to be held at the school auditorium at 7:30 p.m. that Friday, according to Jennifer Daubert, Nativity's director of development.
It's open to any high school student - grades 7 through 12 - and any college student, even non-traditional college students, Daubert said.
"Students need to have their own transportation. It's open to a total of 30 students and it costs $495 per student. We're capping it at 30 students," Daubert said Wednesday. Students can sign up by calling 570-622-8110.
The first student to sign up was Tyler Rossi, Pottsville, a Nativity junior. He's playing the role of Judas in the school's upcoming production of "Godspell," to be performed 7 p.m. April 25 and 3 p.m. April 26.
"I think it's going to be great for me, as a young actor. I'm thinking about pursuing a career as an actor. I'm hoping it's going to show me what is expected of me and give me the tools necessary to pursue this," Rossi said Wednesday.
"As I typically do with camps like these, I will tailor the curriculum around the students' specific interest in the theater, be it acting, set design, lights, costumes, etcetera, as much as possible. So it's important for students signing up to indicate where their interests are. They'll receive a full day's worth of individualized and group instruction each day of the camp, and the camp will culminate in a public performance on Friday night, so proud parents can see the work their kids have accomplished," Mitchell said.
The class is being organized by Mitchell, a Port Carbon native and a 1990 Nativity BVM graduate.
"For some time, I wanted to give something back to my alma mater, Nativity, but being someone who works in the arts in the rural Midwest, it's perennially difficult to commit something substantial financially. So I proposed to the principal, Mrs. Sabol - who was my math teacher back in the day - and the development officer, Jennifer Daubert, that I conduct a camp similar to what I have done in Illinois, donating my labor so the camp could be used as a fundraiser for the school," Mitchell said Thursday.
"To the best of my understanding, an opportunity like this is not something commonly available to high school/junior high level students in Schuylkill County, so I'm hoping it will be a nice outlet for interested area students to hone their skills a bit in the theater and get a sense of what it would be like to study theater on the college level," Mitchell said.
While it's a college-level course, Daubert said college credits are not being given to participating students.
Mitchell earned a master's degree in theater at The Catholic University of America in Washington in 1996, then received his doctorate in theater at the University of Georgia in 1999. He's worked at Eastern Illinois University for 13 years.