Janet Glodowski and the all-volunteer team at Variety Productions’ latest children’s summer musical is as entertaining as it is “krazy!” With a cast of more than 70 local youth from kindergarten through eighth grade, you won’t want to miss Krazy Kamp: The Musical!
Adam Apple (Ray Spadoni), the wheeler-dealer director of Camp Blue Ridge, is in trouble. He and his sidekick, Willard Weathersted (Blake Wendlandt), are destined for a “real job” unless they can get their camp in shape. But the rambunctious “Gentlemen of Blue Ridge” need a place to stay until things get put back together. Camp Blue Ridge consists of the “Junk Food Junkies” (Grayson Konkol, Kashton Konkol, James McBride, Liam Leonhardt, Beau Jensen, Hugo Whitfield-Snell, Jesse Whitfield-Snell, Elias Kadoch, and Grant Mahoney), the “Best Buddy Boys” (Matteo Impullitti, Oliver Scheunemann, Levi Bohm, Sam Booth, Ulysses Innes, Jett Tubbs, Collin Voss, Collin Nendza, and Kendall Podeszwa), and the “Blue Ridge Mountain Boys” (Oliver Dambroski, Eamon Enright, Emmett Felckowski-Groholski, Jacob Groholski, Idongesit Okon, Liam Reilly, Raydn Ahrens, and Caleb Cordy).
Adam finally convinces Eve Hunnicutt (Aubrey Noel), the manager of the girls’ fashionable Camp Tina, and her entourage — counselors Gerdi Goodwin (Amelia Scheunemann), Mabel Merriwether (Olive Impullitti), and Alva Doright (Elise Christianson) — to give the boys a temporary home. But another member of the Camp Tina staff, Dr. Hildegard von Fishbeck (Lexi Martin), does not support this temporary habitation. She enlists the support of “too-cool-for-camp” and spoiled Vivian Vandersnap (Hazel Singer), who was forced to attend camp against her free will. Vivian is on board with ousting the Blue Ridge Boys until she meets a handsome and debonair young man, and then all plans go out the window.
Camp Tina is made up of many campers including the WYRMM Girls (Quinn Mahoney, Neve Walter, Ali Patoka, Brooklyn Barz, and Mila Konkol), Camp Racoon (Olivia Barz, Azalea Larsen, Isla Kadoch, Emerald Larsen, Ava Humphrey, Olivia Groshek, Riley Bednarek, and Emily Johnson), Camp Squirrel (Julia Andrich, Alora Coleman, Elsie Cordy, Jimena Elizalde, Iona Larsen, Monroe Newman, Udeme Okon, Rhianna Olson, Mia Ticho, Willa Kadoch, and Lauren Golomski), Camp Chipmunk (Evelyn Fleming, Rowan Bowe, Maggie Eichmann, Eva Wojtalewicz, Ayana Tompkins, and June Blenker), and Camp Rabbit (Joni Walter, Rose Andrich, Camdyn Herod, Naudia Davis, Cassandra Stevenson, Avery Rooney, Lorelei Pillsbury, and Nola Lund).
Joining the campers for her extended stay is aspiring Broadway star and recent runaway Kate Millfloss (Halley Innes). Kate has willingly taken the place of scientist extraordinaire Linda Biddle (Josie Taylor), who has run away to science camp.
At the heart of this play is the will and determination to pursue one’s dreams while letting nothing and no one stand in the way.
From runaway Broadway hopefuls to Quantum Biomedical Engineers, robots, Bugbusters, and WYRMM enthusiasts, this play’s one-liners will result in uproarious laughter.
Problems stack on top of each other, and Camp Tina and Camp Blue Ridge must come together to make this one of the most memorable summers ever despite their fearless and feuding leaders.
The choice songs in this show will have the audience singing along. From the wacky “A Real Job,” “Poison Ivy Blues,” and “Junk Food Junkie” (the camp’s food “rap” song) to hand-clapping hits like “Hoedown Throwdown” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat!” these songs will have you wanting to sing along. With our trusty stage crew (Stella Bednarek and Cora Colligan), we are anticipating everything to run as smoothly as Cook Jenny’s butter.
This production wouldn’t be a success without the volunteered times of the Variety Productions crew as well as our high school and college volunteers Gracie Zanella, Emmett Danielson, Korbin Williams, Ethan Haas, Sascha Gollon, Courtney Groholski, Hailey Grohoski, Presley Voss, and Seve Anderson.
Will Camp Blue Ridge pass their upcoming inspection? Will the girls of Camp Tina be able to tolerate the boys longer than just a few days? Will Adam and Willard be forced to get a real job? What fate will be bestowed upon the two camps when the original legacy of its founders is revealed?
Krazy Kamp: The Musical is an appealing comedy with a wide variety of songs that highlights the many talents of our local youth. Catch one of the four shows at the Jensen Community Center Theater, 487 N. Main St., Amherst, on Thursday, July 20, or Friday, July 21, at 7 p.m. or Saturday, July 22, at 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 each; ages four and under are free. Tickets can be purchased by calling or texting (715) 347-5847 or emailing varietyproductionsJG@gmail.com.
Primary cast members of Krazy Kamp. Front row (left to right): Blake Wendlandt, Aubrey Noel, Olive Impullitti, Halley Innes, and Hazel Singer. Back row (left to right): Ray Spadoni, Josie Taylor, Elise Christianson, Amelia Scheunemann, and Lexi Martin.
Photo by Jana Tappa