Summer theater camps for Killeen ISD elementary, middle and high school students will produce four productions in eight days ranging from a fairy tale legal drama to Shakespeare.

Over just four days, elementary and middle school musical theater camps sharing the Ellison High School stage and splitting each day will result in two performances of The Big Bad Musical.

Middle school theater students will perform at 11 a.m. and elementary students will perform at 4 p.m., both on Thursday, June 5 at the Ellison auditorium.

A two-week high school theater camp will result in a pair of Shakespeare productions.

High school theater students will perform Macbeth at 1 p.m. A separate cast will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream at 2 p.m. Both shows are set Thursday, June 12 at the Chaparral High School auditorium.

On the second day of theater camp, several students expressed excitement at the process of building a play in such a short timeframe with a cast of talented, determined peers.

In The Big Bad Musical audiences will hear testimony of the destruction wrought by the big, bad wolf in a series of alleged crimes against three pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and other victims.

Most of the play consists of a courtroom drama intermixed with musical numbers.

Incoming Nolan Middle School seventh-grader Alyssa Hoffman is the fairy godmother and a prosecutor in the court case.

“She’s very sassy and pushy and likes yelling at people,” she said of the character. “I’m the good child in my household so it’s fun for me to take out my anger. She’s the life of the party.”

“Seeing how the play comes together and how everyone embraces their role is fun,” Hoffman said. “It’s fun to make friends.”

If you like to laugh, you’ll love the Big Bad Musical, she said.

Leah Henry Thomas, an incoming Union Grove eighth-grader is the evil stepmother and a defense attorney in the play.

“She’s very rude and switches up a lot. I like that,” she said of her character. “It’s not your typical story. It’s different. It’s a fun play. I think people will like the singing.”

Ellison theater director Hayley Hersey and Killeen High choir director Janice Needham praised the hard-working students for quickly embracing the work ethic required to pull off a musical in less than four days.

Across town at Chaparral High School, theater students from all of KISD’s high schools are engaged in two weeks of rehearsal to prepare a comedy and a tragedy for the stage.

Zarina Weathers, a Killeen High School sophomore, is a witch and a murderer in Macbeth.

“Meeting new people with a common interest is fun. Learning the language of Shakespeare and being an evil witch is interesting and fun,” she said. “I’m excited to get into costume and makeup and to learn the chants we’re doing.”

Chaparral senior Armie Melton is Lady Macbeth. “It’s very exciting. I’ve never done Shakespeare before so it’s a lot of new experiences. I’m excited.”

Learning to play a master manipulator has the theater senior studying actresses who have played the classic character to get the monologues right. “She experiences a lot of figurative languages. It’s a lot of dissecting that.”

“I love summer theater because it’s everyone from every school and I get to meet a lot of new friends,” she said. “This year I’m even more excited with more people and two different shows.”

Chaparral junior Myron Noll is playing the role of Demetrius in Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will follow the Macbeth performance on the Chaparral stage.

“Demetrius is a villain. He’s a bit of a narcissistic, overconfident person. It’s a completely new role and genre I can dive into. I’m happy this camp pushes us outside our comfort zones into different character archetypes,” he said.

“It’s so important because theater allows you to express yourself and build your confidence. It brings people that might feel like outcasts in other worlds to feel like a team here.”

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Fine Arts Department

Summer Theater Camps Producing Multiple Shows