NICEVILLE — Three years ago, Lauren Abel wasn’t sure what she was getting into when she attended Northwest Florida State College’s Glee Camp.
Now, the 15-year-old will have a lead role in the summer camp’s production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie Junior” next month,and says she considers herself a triple threat thanks to the program’s training.
“You get training in every area of musical theater: singing, acting and dancing,” Lauren said during a break from her dance class Thursday morning. “My first year I was really young and wasn’t sure what would happen. Now I know a whole lot more about the process.”
Students stretched and danced to music Thursday as they prepared to learn the newest steps for their play at the end of camp.
See photos of the students practicing. >>
The performance will be free to the public at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. July 3 in the Sprint Theater at NWF State.
The Creative Dramatics program has existed for nearly 20 years, but has changed its face based on what’s trending. For the past three years the camp has piggybacked off the popular FOX television show “Glee” to help attract high school and middle school students.
The camp spends three weeks grooming students in the fine arts. But it isn’t about learning how to become a star on Broadway, said Christa Whittaker, an organizer of the camp and the drama teacher at Fort Walton Beach High School.
“They learn to perform because there is not a single job out there where you don’t perform,” Whittaker said. “If you can perform in front of a group, you can perform at the job and you will get that promotion.
“If they can get through this, there’s nothing that prepares them more.”
Thirty-six students from Walton and Okaloosa counties are attending the camp. Participation has grown each year.
“I love theater and dance and music. It’s pretty much my life,” said 15-year-old Kiran Watters from Walton High School. “I will definitely come back next year. I’ve learned my range is wider than I thought and I’m more flexible than I thought, but I do not like doing the pushups.”