A troop of young thespians played monkey-see, monkey-do in early August to prepare for their upcoming performance in “The Jungle Book.”
Their leader, senior Amelia Strittmatter, stood in front of the stage, counting, “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, one, two,” while modeling the moves for the Tioga Theater campers.
“It means a lot that I get to help put together a part of the show and also help pass it on—my love of theater to the littles,” Strittmatter said.
She was one of several Tioga theater students who have been on both the tech side and the performing side of the school’s productions.
“You really just know all that goes into a show, because there’s so much on both ends that go into it,” Strittmatter said.
The camp, which was the third of its kind, is designed to not only help the kids prepare for their part in the Tioga High School fall production but also to grow the overall program by engaging the students early with opportunities across the gamut of theater experiences.
The campers got to help with some costuming in the form of crafting wolf and monkey ears, set design with creating vines to decorate the set, and acting on stage as part of the chorus of wolves and monkeys.
“We are not taking a very literal approach to this show,” TISD theater teacher Haley Hertel said. “Baloo’s costume is white overalls with a brown plaid shirt, and we’re not doing animal ears on the high schoolers. … We opted to go for a more creative approach to it.”
Some of the participants have been part of each of the summer camps, including Sara Dane.
“This is her third time doing camp, and now I’m about to have her in class, and I’m like, ‘I will have you for 10 years,’” Hertel said. “Think how good she’ll be when she’s a senior.”
During her time at the helm of the THS theater program, Hertel has seen almost exponential growth. Strittmatter’s fellow seniors, Gabby Cuellar and Marcelo Torres, spoke about seeing that growth first-hand during Hertel’s four years as theater director.
“I love interacting with all the children and seeing them take an interest in theater at such a young age,” she said. “It makes me believe that there’s a big feature for this program.”
She added that she enjoys that the TISD theater program gives so many students the chance to be part of theater in the fall, saying she loves “seeing how a program can build up with such a good teacher.”
“The fall shows, we have an unbelievable amount of people who want to join, and we accept everyone during the fall,” Cuellar said. “But when it comes to One Act season, obviously we have to cut down, and I think that’s the hardest part, just because everyone wants a spot on there.”
Torres agreed about the impact Hertel has had and the potential impact of the summer camp.
“It’s really about developing the future of the theater program,” he said, adding that it’s important to integrate the whole district instead of just the high schoolers. “… The kids obviously like it, so I think it’s good to help get their interest up and help them love theater.”
There will be 18 elementary participants in the Oct. 4-6 production, which will feature 43 high schoolers. “We do have three staff
member surprises,” Hertel said.
