RAINSVILLE – The Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) Theatre’s Summer Youth Theatre Workshop featured students from around the community working together to produce a one-hour, one-act version of The Little Mermaid. This year’s Summer Youth Workshop program, a summer theatre camp for students ages 18 and younger, was a massive success with students from around the Dekalb and Jackson County communities. The campers worked for two weeks, from May 30th to June 11th, 2022, to put together an entire show on stage at the Tom Bevill Lyceum!
Summer Youth Workshop 2022 was attended by over 40 students from the Northeast Alabama region ranging in age from eighteen to four. The camp met for two weeks with daily camp sessions from twelve to four each day, culminating with two performances on the final Friday and Saturday of camp! The performances were a massive hit, with over 450 people in attendance both nights of the performances. That means that over 900 people saw these students perform on stage for FREE!
The Summer Youth Workshop program is about bringing students together, at the lowest cost possible of about 75 dollars, to enrich and develop the theatrical skills of the students and provide an artistic entertainment opportunity for our community! The mission of the Northeast Alabama Community College is to provide accessible quality educational opportunities, promote economic growth, and enhance the quality of life for the people of Alabama. This mission is what the Summer Youth Theatre Workshop program strives to achieve.
The Summer Youth Theatre Workshop 2022 celebrates its 15th year of summer youth theatre camps here at Northeast Alabama Community College. The past summer youth theatre workshops have come with challenges and triumphs, and this year’s summer 2022 workshop was no different! From late costume pieces to technical difficulties on the first performance night. Summer youth theatre workshop 2022 was what Mr. Gilliland, camp director, calls “A true live theatre experience!”
In just two short weeks, over 40 students and 14 college student counselors were able to not only put together an entire show but also find time to teach the students about basic theatre skills! The daily lessons ranged from improvisation, characterization, movement, and even technical theatre skills such as painting, curtain operation, lighting, and sound!
Mr. Trey Gilliland, Theatre manager, and the camp director for the Summer Youth workshop said, “This year’s camp taught not only the campers a plethora of lessons, but it also taught me some lessons too! We were very happy to be able to host the camp this year to help further and begin some campers’ journey within the theatre. Both on the performance side of theatre and the technical side of theatre! One of our campers requested not to be cast in the show but to be a crew member. We created a Crew Lead role just for them! We hope that in the future we can offer camp experience for performances and experiences for students interested in the technical side of Theatre! I cannot wait until next year!”
Summer Youth Theatre Workshop is an amazing experience for young students interested in theatre that might not know how to or where to begin learning and growing in Theatre. The summer theatre camp also gives our college students in the Theatre Department an opportunity to see what it is like to produce a show! This year Mr. Gilliland tasked two students, Halle Huber and Hayden Pack, with being co-directors of the production. Ms. Huber and Mr. Pack worked together to block, choreograph, and plan how they would teach the show to the students in just two weeks! Ms. Huber and Mr. Pack were NACC Theatre Scholarship students during the spring of 2022. As scholarship students, they have extra responsibilities within the mainstage productions and during the semester to receive and maintain their full tuition scholarship with the Theatre Department.
Mr. Gilliland also noted, “These two students and our other theatre students have done an amazing job learning and growing along with the campers! I want to thank Ms. Huber, Mr. Pack, and our other student consolers for all their amazing work!”
NACC’s Theatre Department, led by Director of Theatre Kayleigh Smith, has used the college’s state-of-the-art technical equipment and talented theatre students, community members, and college staff to bring in-person productions back to the area. Alongside Ms. Smith is the Technical Director of Theatre, Mr. Brad Archer, and the theatre manager, Mr. Trey Gilliland.
For more information about Northeast Alabama Community College, visit nacc.edu or download the OneACCS app in the Apple Store or Google Play Store. Follow NACC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest announcements, current events, and more.
