Arts & Entertainment
Catskills West Campers Show Off Acting Skills
The Greystone Mansion hosts two performances by participants in the city's theater day camp.
Campers from Beverly Hills' Catskills West Theatre Arts Day Camp showed off the skills they learned this summer with performances of Once on This Island on an outdoor stage at .
Participants from the Upper Catskills West, for children ages 11-14, performed Wednesday and campers from the Lower Catskills West, for children ages 5-10, performed Thursday to audiences filled with family, friends and other fans.
The camp is offered by the city of Beverly Hills Community Services Department.
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“This camp is a combination experience. They learn what it’s like to audition, as well as different skill sets like singing, dancing and drama, but we also try to combine it with a real camp experience. It’s not just strictly theater,” said Chris Best, senior recreation supervisor. “There are over 100 kids in the program, and we put them all on stage. It’s quite an ambitious production.”
Lauren Aviram, 11, has been attending the Catskills West camp since she was 4 years old. She enjoys acting and hopes to make it onto a Broadway stage someday.
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“I love theater arts so this is the perfect camp for me. I love all the counselors here and we do these amazing shows,” Lauren said. “It’s just a great experience.”
Lauren looks forward to the performance at the end of each camp session.
“It’s very cool because you have all these people watching you,” she said. “It’s just your moment and your time to shine.”
Once on This Island tells the story of a poor island girl who meets and falls in love with a rich island boy, according to Catskills West Program Director Matt Czornobil.
“It’s basically The Little Mermaid meets Romeo and Juliet. It shows the class struggle between the two groups and how the gods play like puppeteers and pull the strings of the humans on earth,” Czornobil said. “This performance is the culmination of four weeks of rehearsals.”
In addition to building their self confidence, the campers learn about theater while spending vacation time with friends.
“The goal is for the campers to have a fun summer while getting a background in theater arts,” Czornobil said. “But it’s like any other summer camp. We want them to come away with lots of happy memories.”
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