Kristin Chenoweth Holds Third Camp
By MEAGAN COLLINS
Contributing Writer
HOMETOWN RETURN: Tony- and Emmy-Award-winning performer Kristin Chenoweth poses during her third-annual Broadway Bootcamp with Richard Jay-Alexander, a 42-year veteran of show business and an additional instructor. The one-week camp, held in June, provided performance-related instruction to 45 students from across the country.
ROSSY GILLE for GTR Newspapers
For her third-annual Broadway Bootcamp, Kristin Chenoweth returned home to Broken Arrow to train and mentor 45 students from around the country for one week in June.
This is the first year that Chenoweth was present for the entire camp, which she plans to be the established precedent moving forward.
Throughout the camp, Chenoweth, along with additional Tony- and Emmy-award-winning performers, coached the students in various performance-related activities, including acting, dancing, singing, staging and team building. Chenoweth also provided each student a professional headshot for their portfolios, and students received instruction regarding the financial side of show business.
“I wanted the focus this week to be not about the end performance for students. It’s about growth,” Chenoweth says.
Students also sang the national anthem at a Tulsa Drillers game and performed at the end of their camp in a student and faculty performance.
Mark Frie, Broadway Bootcamp coordinator, says the program has grown dramatically and become more impactful now that Chenoweth is at the helm again with her theatrically-accomplished colleagues by her side.
Serving as additional teachers and mentors included Richard Jay-Alexander, 42-year veteran of show business; Michael Orland, associate musical director for 15 seasons of American Idol; Tony Award-winner Faith Prince; this year’s Tony Award-winner Baayork Lee; and Broadway music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell.
“Watching these veterans of stage and screen interact with the kids [was] so rewarding,” says Frie. “Coaching and inspiring the next generation of entertainers certainly takes a village—and we’ve built the most unique village around.”
Chenoweth has continued to support her hometown since she first rose to Broadway stardom in the 1990s. In 2013, she established the Kristin Chenoweth Arts & Education Fund, which provides support and monetary gifts to help advance fine arts in public schools.
Updated 07-25-2017
READER COMMENTS
