BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Monday morning, 84 local students, ages 9-17, arrived at Shea's Performing Arts Center for an intensive, two-week musical theater summer camp.
"It's intense. We wanted to make sure to put that word in there because we are using all three campuses throughout the whole day, so Shea's Buffalo, Shea's Smith, and Shea's 710, and they are literally going from class to class, They take six different workshops every single day," Vice President of Arts and Education Victoria Perez-Maggiolo said.
By the end of the experience, the students will have worked in teams to create their own original musicals.
"This is my third year and I really like the setup of it," Twelve-year-old Scarlett Morris told 2 On Your Side. "I like how we can write our own musicals and we play games and we learn the music and dance. It's a really fun camp."
"You get to meet new people, meet some friends that you knew from a couple of years ago. You get to sing, dance," Another third-year camper, Jack Murphy, said. "It's just the best thing I've ever done in the summer."
The highlight is the final performance of the finished work on the Main Stage, which will take place on Friday, July 19th at 6 p.m.
"There's always the few kids that walk in and you can tell they have some trepidation and by the end of day one by the end of day one they come back and they're saying goodbye to everyone, they're talking about coming back tomorrow," Perez-Maggiolo said. "That's the power of theater, right? When you come together and you have that shared experience and you're all there for one reason. The impact is huge."