Summer musical camp puts on The Little Mermaid

Three week course offers youth a chance to perform in a professional musical theatre production.

In 2014, the theatre society summer camp performed Grease.

In 2014, the theatre society summer camp performed Grease.

The Odeum Theatre Society are looking for participants for their youth summer musical theatre workshop.

The three-week course offers participants ages 13 to 25 a chance to rehearse and perform like professional cast members in a musical theatre production.

They will also practice with musicians in the Ridge Meadows Orchestra, which will culminate in five evenings of performances in front of a live audience.

This year the non-profit society will be putting on a production of The Little Mermaid at Theatre in the Country.

All levels of experience are welcome to join.

The society is also looking for a range of strong singers for the adult chorus.

Workshops will be led by a six-person professional direction team hired by the theatre company.

The camp runs from Aug. 1 to 15 with performances Aug. 17-21.

Rehearsals for the youth adult cast will be daily from 1-9 p.m., with a 45-minute dinner break. There will be no rehearsals on Sundays.

Each participant will spend time with a vocal coach, accompanist, dance choreographer, theatre coach and full production team.

The workshops are run by directors Rayne Beveridge, Jonathan Reichert, Lyndsey Britten and Morgan Churla. The production team will be led by Reg Parks and Graham Coates.

Ali Watson, a graduate of the Capilano University musical theatre program, will be the choreographer for the production.

She has worked on two former Odeum Theatre productions in the past, including as an assistant choreographer for the 2013 production of Spamalot and 2014 production of Grease.

This will be the first time she will be the main choreographer for a production this size.

“I want to give choreography a try because I got to do that at school and I really enjoyed it. I want to broaden my abilities,” said Watson.

“It’s very inclusive,” Wason said of the workshop. “Anybody can do it and it’s a good way to spend your summer and make new friends and try out something new if you haven’t done it before,” she added.

There are only 20 spots available for the three-week workshop, which costs $400 per person, plus a $50 costume fee and a $100 production fee that is refunded upon completion of eight hours of production support. Bursaries are available of up to $200 upon request.

For the Adult Chorus, there are 15 spots available that cost $100 per person, plus a $50 costume fee and $50 production fee that is refunded with the completion of four hours of production support.

Rehearsals for the orchestra are 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays with no rehearsals on Sunday.

• To register go to http://www.odeumsociety.com/.

The registration deadline is June 30.

Maple Ridge News