Camper Describers His Experience at Camp Broadway

From Camper Jaylen Hall, 15 from Mesa

My experience at Camp Broadway has been amazing. I love the camp because the staff are always cool to be around, and there are always new, fun people to meet. I love the rehearsals that we have for the big show on Friday, and for the gypsy showcase. The thing I like most about the camp is performing on Friday. I think it is really fun because I get nervous and when I finish the show I love how I feel. The gypsy showcase is one of my favorite things to do because it’s like a chance for us to choose our plays and goof around with them. The plays that we got this year were The Lion King and Bye Bye Birdie. So basically what we do is mix them into one short two and a half minute long play. We can change the lyrics to the songs and act anything we want (as long as it goes with at least one of the stories). What we do is rehearse all week and perform that on Friday as well. Friday was also the day that my group and the Nederlanders performed My Fair Lady. And the Jujamcyns and Schubert’s performed Oliver. The shows are really fun to do, and the camp is just a blast. It’s an easy way for you to do something for the first week of summer. Every year I meet new people. And it seems to get more fun just because of my environment there. I love it! Jaylen Hall.

Camper Describes Week at Camp Broadway

Blog post written by  Camper Alex Trumble,15

Camp Broadway is the experience of a lifetime. You learn so much in such a short time!

Day one is very simple:

We met the instructors and fellow campers. 

Day two:

We started to learn the songs you will perform on Friday and assigned dance steps. 

Day three:

We started to work in small groups on your Gypsy Showcase which is when campers get a chance to create their own stories by “mashing up” two musicals (one classic and one modern show) chosen at random.   The evening of day three is when we watched the performance of Million Dollar Quartet, which had us dancing in our seats. 

Day four:

We put the dancing and signing together and lines are assigned.  Lunch was with the Million Dollar Quartet cast and crew.  We asked them questions, took photos with them and got their autographs.  It was great to meet them after watching the show the night before.  After lunch we got to tour the different parts of Gammage including the backstage area. 

Day five:

The last day was very exciting!  The show was rehearsed with all the parts put together on the big stage.  Late in the afternoon the families arrived for the performance, and we performed our pieces for them. This gives the campers the experience of performing in front of an audience, and teaches us that no matters what happens the show must go on.   As someone who wants to have a career on stage I have learned so many useful things that will take me far and met some lasting friends

Gammage Executive Director's Tony Predictions

Here are ASU Gammage's Executive Director Colleen Jenings- Roggensack predictions for the 66th Annual Tony Awards: 

Best Play – Venus in Fur

Best Musical – Once

Best Book of a Musical – Once

Best Original Score written for the theatre – Newsies

Best Revival of a play – Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Best Revival of a musical – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play – Philip Seymour Hoffman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play– Tracie Bennett

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical – Norm Lewis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical – Audra McDonald

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play – Andrew Garfield

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play – Linda Emond

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical – Michael Cerveris

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical  – Elizabeth A. Davis

Best Scenic Design of a play – Clyborne Park, Daniel Ostling

Best Scenic Design of a musical -  Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll Ghost the Musical

Best Costume Design of a play – Paul Tazewell, A Streetcar Named Desire

Best Costume Design of a musical - Follies Gregg Barnes

Best Lighting Design of a play - Peter Kaczorowski, The Road to Mecca

Best Lighting Design of a musical - Hugh Vanstone, Ghost the Musical

Best Sound Design of a musical-  End of the Rainbow, Gareth Owen

Best Sound Design of a play – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Acme Sound Partners

Best direction of a play - Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Best direction of a musical - Diane Paulus, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Best Choreography – Evita, Rob Ashford

Best Orchestrations - William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Million Dollar Quartet cast member Kelly Lamont Talks About Her Experience With The Show:

1956. Elvis, Johnny, Carl, Jerry Lee, Sam, Jay, Fluke and ...... Dyanne? Yes one of these things is not like the other. In a cast of eight, I play the only lady. Now when I was first cast in this production and heard that I would be working with a handful of men, believe me, I was excited. Not because I don't like working with women, but because I thought to myself what a cool and rare opportunity to be surrounded on stage with men. Yup, a stageful of attractive men. It's not everyday that this kind of a show is written. I knew the job would be difficult, but some woman had to do it.

Being the only woman in this show was never an issue for me. I remember coming into rehearsal the first day and being nervous that I'd be working with only guys, but once we

got on our feet and starting working through the music, we became a unit and more like a band. It's been that way ever since. The guys have always treated me as an equal and I felt the way I earned their respect was to come in, rock out my songs, have a few whiskeys (or a bottle) after the work day was done and we'd be all good. So far it's worked like a charm.

I'm a pretty goofy person and love to make people laugh. During one of the first rehearsals I was messing around on stage with the guys and pretending that I was in an opera. Our musical director, Chuck Mead, heard me and decided we would use that in the show. So during Johnny Cash's "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," Dyanne is singing angelic like background music which adds to the authenticity of the show. Many people probably don't realize but Dyanne's vocal parts in this show are all over the map. She sings jazz, melt your face off belty rock and then operatic notes at the end. It's all fun to me and makes playing the part that much more interesting.

This show definitely has a different vibe from other shows I've worked based on the fact that we are a group of musicians. I've worked in a bunch of bands and performed on stage with musicians that play everything from death metal to Handel. Because of this I felt I fit right in to this "band like" atmosphere. Most of the people onstage are musicians first which is really different than most Broadway shows. The first few weeks of rehearsal was solely based on learning the music. Almost every character not only has to sing and act, but they have to play an instrument throughout the whole show. It's a lot to learn! I was lucky because I only play the tambourine. But I remember when I first picked it up, I could barely play it. Now I never want to put it down. I play a mean tambourine!

I am so lucky to be amongst some of the best musicians in the business. These guys make my job very easy and such a blast! I can truly say that this is one of the most exciting shows I've ever done and it is due to the fact that everything is played live, and these guys can really kick ass! Every night feels like a new show because it is live music and live theatre combined. We've had strings break, microphones go out, amps not work. You name it, it's happened. The show must go on, and we always figure out a way to do it.

I've been doing this show for a long time. I started as an original cast member in Chicago in October of 2008. Most actors will never get an opportunity to play the same role for longer than a few months. Because I've been doing it so long, Dyanne has evolved. I know much more about the music of the 50's. I learned more about the culture and the lifestyle of the 50's. How women fit in and their roles in society. I will say this though, as much as I've learned about the 50's, I do believe that Elvis brought this woman to the sessions because she would be fun to be with and she'd be able to hang with the guys. I try to stay true to that and bring that part to the stage.

One of the most common questions I am asked about Dyanne is if she was real and was she there that night. Yes and yes. That is what makes it that much more real. Elvis brought a woman and she went on to do her own thing in life. She didn't write a book or try to gain anything from her brief relationship with Elvis. I always keep this in the back of my mind while I'm on stage because to me that means she must have been confident in herself and could hold her own. I believe that is what Dyanne brings to the stage. I say, let's do a shot to that!