In the short time Golden Triangle Theatre has been around, it has established itself as a prominent organization in the area.
In that time, it has also established its base of operations in the Seventh Street Centre, formerly the First Baptist Church in Downtown Columbus.
This summer, the halls of that building will be filled with a certain type of sound. The sound of children learning theater as GTT hosts its inaugural week-long theater camps.
“It’s a week full of music, theater and arts,” said Garrett Torbert, executive and artistic director for the group. “We have some art things that we are going to be doing. It’s kind of a performing arts camp we are going to be doing for these kids. We have 60 registered and eight instructors from various levels of experience.”
June 19-23, there will be two camps happening simultaneously. One camp is for ages six through 11 and will focus on the film “Encanto.”
“They are going to be doing a few selections from the movie, but we are also combining it to talk about culture too,” Torbert said. “They will learn about the culture of the people in the movie.”
The older kids, aged 12-18, will be participating in what the group calls a “Broadway intensive” camp.
“That really is for the older kids who might be interested in pursuing, not necessarily a career, but opportunities in theater,” Torbert said.
“They will learn how to audition for things and get that experience of working with an acting coach. We have a dance coach coming in who is trained in musical theater style.”
Allison Jones has loved theater for as long as she can remember. Now, she will get a chance to impart her accrued knowledge onto the younger generation as an instructor.
“Theater has been the most important thing in my life since I was a child just like these kids,” Jones said. “My love of theater was fostered in summer camps and things just like this. Getting to be on the other side of that as an instructor is just so fulfilling and exciting.”
Jones will be teaching in the Broadway intensive camp. She will be teaching acting through song, stage makeup and improvisation.
“I am very excited to be involved and getting to see everybody’s joy at the work we are doing together and coming together as a community,” Jones said. “It’s really lovely.”
With this being the inaugural year, however, the group wasn’t sure what to expect as far as participation from area youth.
The registration for each camp was capped at 30 participants, and both filled relatively quickly.
“It’s overwhelming how interested the community is in seeing something like this and supporting that,” Torbert said. “About 75% of our camp enrollment is actually students from Starkville. We’ve got a large pool of new people, which is exciting.”
However, students in Starkville also have an opportunity to stay in their home turf and experience theater camp with Project P.L.A.Y. which is being hosted by Starkville Community Theatre. According to the group’s Facebook page, the month-long camp is returning after an extended hiatus.
The children will meet in the afternoons on weekdays throughout June, and the entire experience will be capped off with live performances June 27-July 1.
“Our students work together to learn their own lines, rehearse their scenes, build their own props, work on their own set from the ground up and create their own costume pieces, all while building cooperation skills, self-confidence and innovative problem solving,” read the post.
MJ Etua, who notably directed the 2022 Tennessee Williams Tribute performance of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” is the program’s director.
Benefits of camp
Camps such as these not only teach children about the arts, but also help them develop skills that will be beneficial in life.
“These kids are going to get to meet other kids and learn how to work in teams and build on creative experience,” Torbert said. “When I talk about theater, I never want people to think it is just acting and performing. It’s not. It’s learning public speaking and building multiple skill sets for day-to-day functioning.”
Jones added that it touches on the base function of all cultures, storytelling.
“Storytelling is the most important thing in any culture, and I believe instilling that in our children is the most meaningful thing we can do,” she said.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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