Stagedoor Manor?

[Blair]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 7:19am

Hi! First post, anyway...

I was wondering if anyone goes to or knows anything about Stagedoor Manor? They have a fantastic alumni list and the program sounds amazing. I'm looking into summer camps and want some first hand opinions. Thanks!

[BroadwayGal]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 9:41am

I don't know if this will help much...
I'm going there this summer. I've never been there before but from what I've heard about it it's a great performing arts camp with lots of training in dance, singing, acting, backstage work, etc. And each 3 week session they do *i'm not sure how many* shows. If you order the video from them (free I'm pretty sure) then it'll tell you a lot more. It looks like a great place though!

[gherbert]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 9:49am

They do twelve shows.

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 11:34am

French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts is better and does more shows! They do about 12 a session! Three sessions! 3 weeks long each!

[BroadwayKate]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 12:02pm

Jesseeinstein...did you go to Interlochen by any chance?

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 12:10pm

jesseeinstein, french woods does 7 shows a session.

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 12:56pm

I go to French Woods! Trust me it's not 7! The show list for this summer so far is:
----------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST SESSION:
AGES 11-17: Will Roger's Follies
Man of La Mancha
Chicago
The Most Happy Fella
Amadeus
The Diary of Ann Frank
The Importance of Being Ernest
AGES 11-14: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah
Suesical, The Musical
She Loves Me
AGES 7-11: Little Johny Jones
James and the Giant Peach
Aladin
SECOND SESSION:
AGES 11-17: Ragtime
Mack and Mable
Sunday in the Park with George
The King and I
Noises Off
The Crucible
Inherit the Wind
AGES 11-14: Honk
Cats
Shenendoah
Stop the World I Wanna Get Out
AGES 7-11: Pete's Dragon
Newsies
Pinnochio
THIRD SESSION:
AGES 11-17: A Chorus Line
Phantom
Hair
Miss Saigon
Harvey
The Man Who Came to Dinner
An Inspector Called
AGES 11-14: No Way to Treat a Lady
Schoolhouse Rock
Best Foot Forward
Funny Girl
AGES 7-11: Mary Poppins
The Wiz
Once Upon a Mattress
----------------------------------------------------------------
How's that for a list!

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 2:14pm

I have a friend who goes to French Woods, and she loves it and told me a lot about the program. It sounds very promising.

Camp Broadway is another program to look into. Yes, it's a lot shorter than Stagedoor and French Woods, but it really is quite an experience.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 2:26pm

Isn't Stagedoor the setting for the movie "Camp"?

Updated On: 1/4/04 at 02:26 PM

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 2:28pm

yup

[DefyingGravity2]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 4:55pm

OH MAN, french woods IS NOT better than SDM!!

I went to stagedoor for 8 years. I can tell you ANYTHING you wanna know about it. We don't do a CERTAIN number of shows, it kinda depends on the shows and how many theaters we wanna use/ kids there are per session. The shows maybe be smaller at SDM but they are better than french woods. YAY! Ask anything i can tell you all!!!!

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 4:59pm

Yeah whatever! I'm on my seventh year at FWF and it beats Stagedoor for sure! This year Jason Robert Brown came in and worked with the cast of Parade and then gave a concert for the entire camp! Beat that!

[gherbert]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 6:17pm

I second everything that DefyingGravity2 said. And French Woods is NOT better in anyway than Stagedoor.

[BroadwayGal]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 6:47pm

To DefyingGravity2- can you tell me a little bit more about Stage Door? I'm going there this summer for the first time. I'd love to hear anything you have to say about what it's like!

[DefyingGravity2]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 6:54pm

Um... This year Kim Grigsby came and did a masterclass, i think thats pretty awesome!!! JRB went to french woods, but can you name anyone else cool who did?????



I can't really answer general questions b/c i have too much info. specifics are better!!!

[DoReMi]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 6:57pm

ohgawd.....

fighting over summer camp.

get real

[DefyingGravity2]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 6:59pm

Its all in good fun! there is an eternal war between the 2 camps, thus if there is any mention of either, then we have to fend for ourselves. Its not a serious "war" like some posts i have seen where people are REALLY angry about who was a better " " in random show #7. that is to get REAL over.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 7:38pm

Stagedoor has some GREAT alumni

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 7:57pm

My daughter attended a three week session last summer. She liked it, but didn't love it. She went for the first time at age 17 and only stayed for one session....probably not the best set up in the world...not enough time to really settle in, especially when a lot of the people her age had been coming for years. Admittedly, her experience was clouded by the fact that she was very ill (fever of 103 for several days) in the infirmary and home for most of the second week . That knocked the momentum out of her experience and I'm sure also hampered social bonding that one would expect. Never the less, she thought the classes were very, very good. She signed up for a full schedule of dance classes because she felt that was her weak area. And she came away feeling that she had benefitted, even with missing a lot. She was in Evita, and again, the show was quite something, expecially considering it was put together in less than three weeks.

I think that if you are a theater person AND a camp person, this is an awesome place to go. I would have liked to have the chance when I was a kid. As a parent, I have to say that it is a VERY expensive three weeks...I'd have had to take a second mortgage on the house for my daughter to spend the entire summer there.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 8:01pm

What about this backstage stuff? I would like to attend a camp for technical theatre.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 8:04pm

Was your daughter in a musical theatre dance class? i think i was in it with her.

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 8:30pm

DefyingGravity2 do you mean anyone else cool who's come? Or anyone else cool that has visited?
This year people that came all came on the same day with Jason. We had Martin Lowe(musical director of Jerry Springer the Opera), his now-wife Georgia(who is working as the conducter I believe of Little Shop of Horrors), and someone else who I think was Martin's partner, the name slips from my memory now but I'll find out and post it later. Who are some impressive alumni from stagedoor? What shows were put on last year? What makes it better then FWF in your opinion?

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 8:31pm

Oh yes! We also went to New York City this past year, saw Man of La Mancha and got to meet the cast of the show(including Brian Stokes Mitchel) and ask them questions afterwards. A lot of fun!

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/4/04 at 8:34pm

sounds cool.

[broadgayboi15]

Posted: 4/11/04 at 3:58pm

Hey, I'm going to Stagedoor Manor this year for the first time and I can't wait, I know all about Frenchwoods cause my school dominates it. LOL, I go to an arts school called New World in Downtown Miami and the many of the kids who go there go to Frenchwoods and take all the leads. It's a good camp, I know some of the teachers, they teach at my school. I figured I don't want to be with the same kids all year round though so I figured why not try Stagedoor, no one from my school goes there! Anyone with info please im me or e-mail me, [e-mail]