Stage Kids Campers Flourish on Icicle Creek Campus

Stage Kids, a local nonprofit led by dynamic founding Artistic Director, Michelle McCormick, completed their first successful Upper Valley summer camp, collaborating with Icicle Creek in July. For the first time, Upper Valley youth didn’t have to travel to Wenatchee to participate in a musical-theater-focused camp. Several of the 30 campers aged five to eleven had never attended any camp before. While Icicle Creek has hosted many years of arts camps, the theater camps have always been geared to older students.

In a jam-packed week, kids learned theater fundamentals, like discussing how to show character, the parts of a stage, and theater etiquette. Additionally, they explored Icicle Creek campus, made crafts, and had snacks. And they worked hard to be able to put on a short production for family and friends on the final afternoon.

The culminating performance was a musical revue celebrating Disney sidekicks with a frame story of a to-be-actor needing convincing that sidekicks play a key role. All the campers sang and danced on stage to songs including “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story, “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book, and “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King, with many small solos, speaking parts and cartwheels allowing individuals to have a moment to shine.

The kids looked ecstatic sharing their talent, and they could take to heart the theme of the revue that everyone is essential, not just the “lead” or the “hero.” Sidekicks bring something necessary and wonderful to the story, whether it’s the strength of Genie in Aladdin or the whimsy of Olaf in Frozen.

Like the values explored in that bite-sized production, Stage Kids is about much more than putting on plays. Their website touts, “Confidence. Humility. Teamwork. Responsibility. Creativity. Empathy. Joy! Theater skills are life skills delivered in an incredibly fun, engaging, age-appropriate way.”

Stage Kids builds character through their summer camps and a progression of classes year-round. This is just the beginning of bringing these fun, theater arts education opportunities to Leavenworth at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts.