By Suzy Alstrin
Last weekend’s performances by Reinhardt’s high school musical theatre intensive summer camp garnered applause, thanks in part to the guidance of four current students in the School of the Arts. Several students joined their professors working with 17 high school-age campers to ensure the success of their performances.
Counselor Liv Adams (RU-2025) attended the camp during her high school years. This summer, she expanded her professional skills from a different perspective. Adams served as the stage manager and lighting designer, among other responsibilities. She enjoyed teaching the student actors how to use a lighting board and design a show.
As a rising senior, Adams explained this experience became critical in forming her career vision, “I now have a better foundation of what I want to do once I’m out in the real world. This intensive experience has given me ideas of what my strengths and weaknesses are and allowed opportunities that will make me better during the school year.”
Volunteer Madison Burdette (RU-2027) participated in the summer program as a high school student twice. After the second year, she felt better prepared for her college experience; and it influenced her decision to attend Reinhardt. Now a musical theatre major planning to earn a master’s degree in education, she values this summer’s opportunity to observe and learn from her professors’ interactions with the younger students.
Liph Packer’s (RU-2027) experience working as a camp counselor and overseeing props provided the opportunity to explore different realms of theatre, including administrative work and being an authority figure in the intensive and overnight residency.
The experiences of these dedicated Reinhardt students exemplify the transformative impact of Reinhardt’s musical theatre program benefiting not only the young campers but also the mentors who guide them.
