The Russellville Arts Council is proud to announce upcoming opportunities for talented students to show their skills on the deGraffenried Auditiorium stage this summer. For the past 10 years, one of the group’s favorite community projects has been the development of young talent with week-long learning events that bring together dedicated local teachers, technicians, make-up artists and costume designers with elementary and high school students for a fun-filled time of learning and performances. This year the Council will be having TWO weeks of production camps… a dance camp for lower elementary students led by choreographer Kelly Lewis of “101 Dalmations” and a production of “Oklahoma, Jr.” for older youth led by director Larry Vaught.
This year’s summer dance camp is for performers in second through fifth grades. The camp will be held Monday, June 3, through Friday, June 7, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. each day at Russellville High School. The camp will be led by the local award-winning choreographer Kelly Lewis. Besides being actively involved in learning creative dancing, the students will also learn about set design, props, lighting, and makeup. At the conclusion of the camp there will be a special performance on Friday, June 7, which is open to the public. The price of the camp will be $25 per camper and includes a camp T-shirt and two free show tickets for parents.
Students interested in the dance camp will be signing up at the Russellville High School foyer on May 14 and 16 at 6 p.m. each evening. At this time, parents will be given information about the camp, get their child sized for their performance costume, pay camp fees and get their child’s personal information for our performance program. The signups will only last around 30 minutes.
On the same evenings, May 14 and 16, students from sixth grade through graduating seniors will be auditioning for parts for “Oklahoma, Jr.” This is a great opportunity for seasoned actors as well as “newbies” to the stage to be part of a fun-filled experience of enthusiastic song and dance in this Tony award winning musical that is celebrating 75 years on the Broadway stage!
Students will be auditioning in small groups and will perform a brief a cappella song of their choosing, demonstrate a “country line dance,” as well as have opportunities to read dialogue from the play. From this auditioning process, parts will be assigned for the production. This process might take an hour from start to finish.
There will be a read-through of the play on May 30 when the participants will be sized for costumes, firm up role assignments, and receive a musical CD. Those receiving principal roles will be asked to have some brief rehearsals leading up to the full week of Drama Camp).
The full week of Drama Camp will be June 24 through 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Performances of “Oklahoma, Jr.” will be Friday, June 28, and Saturday, June 29, at 7 p.m., with a matinee on Saturday, June 29, at 3 p.m. (with a cast party in between performances!). The price of the camp will be $25 per camper which includes a camp T-shirt and two free show tickets for parents.
For more information, please check the Russellville Arts Council on Facebook or call Director Larry Vaught at 270-977-5823. Mark your calendars and join us in supporting two wonderful art productions for this year…in Russellville!
About the instructors
Kelly Lewis is originally from Nashville, Tenn., where she grew up training in classical ballet, theater, jazz and hip hop. In 2004, Kelly graduated with a BFA in Performing Arts Education from The University of Tennessee at Martin. She currently resides in southern Kentucky and is a middle school teacher. Locally, she has choreographed for Logan County Middle School Musicals, Logan County High School, Russellville Arts Council and many other community theaters. She has also choreographed award-winning routines for Franklin Simpson High School Dance Team since 2014. Kelly is currently working on her master’s degree and serves on the Russellville Arts Council. She loves working with children of all ages and spreading the passion of dance and theater arts.
Larry Vaught serves as President of the Russellville Arts Council and is a retired public school teacher with many years of experience with community theater and vocal concerts. He also serves as Minister of Music at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church as well as piano teacher and tuner.
