Buffalo Rising Online

Jul 24th 2008, 8:47am By Kate Sorice

Buffalo is certainly a sports town; we love our local teams and you always hear about intramural and summer sports for the kids and teens in town to be involved in. However, many people lean more towards something equally as thrilling and taxing on the body, mind and soul as any sport: Theater!

We have a great artistic community in Buffalo, which include theater, dance, art exhibits and much more. Every summer, Sheas Performing Arts Center holds a one-week musical theater workshop called “Camp Broadway” which focuses on developing singing, dancing and acting skills, and also teaches these kids and young adults team work, writing, directing and so much more. Camp Broadway takes place between July 21-25 from 9AM-5PM, for boys and girls ages 10-17. You don’t need any past theater experience and there are no auditions necessary. You will find kids who just want a camp experience to people who are seriously considering becoming actors and actresses. They get some great stage experience being in Sheas beautiful theater.

The teachers are veterans of Broadway and the theater and there are even helpers who are past camp members who want to give back. At the end of the camp there is a “Gypsy Showcase” which encourages the students to create their own theatrical pieces that appeal to their own personal strengths and weaknesses, and these pieces are presented to family and friends at the end of the week.

I was able to observe some of Camp Broadway on the first day and everyone looked incredibly excited about the week ahead. They warmed up and learned the song “On Broadway” complete with choreography. First Niagara Bank is the sponsor for the second year in a row and graciously donated $10,000 for this program.

I had the opportunity to speak with Timothy Smith who is the director of Camp Broadway. On starting the camp 8 years ago and he said, “I wanted to give something back to the theatre community and give people the chance to experience the arts and see that they could have a future in theater.” Timothy’s resume is impressive and it includes Aida, Grease and Sweet Charity on Broadway with Christina Applegate and most recently Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He has worked with the best and brightest on Broadway and has a vast amount of knowledge and passion.

If you are interesting in learning more about Camp Broadway, attending their Gypsy Showcase, or volunteering for next year's camp, go to sheas.org.