In 2024, I was given the opportunity to be a director at Stagedoor Manor, the famed theatre summer camp that inspired 2023's movie, "Theatre Camp" and "Camp" which came 20 years earlier. Hundreds of campers age 10-18 participate in a three-week intensive rehearsal and class schedule culminating in 14 live productions in 7 different theaters on campus. 

Working in this setting was exciting and interesting:

You are assigned a musical, and are given only three days to research and prepare your production. You find out your cast as they show up to rehearsal after a few days of casting by a committee. And then you rehearse for 5 hours a day for the next 2.5 weeks to ready your show before opening night. 

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It was one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences of my career. The budget is small, the timeline is short, but the creativity and talent is exceptional and yielded incredible results!

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Since our production starred child actors, our interpretation of "Bonnie & Clyde" imagined the story through the eyes of Young Bonnie and Young Clyde and their respective and collective obsessions with fame and glory. Set in an old abandoned picture house in Texas, Young Bonnie and Clyde watch from front row seats as the movie of their future lives is plays out in epic fashion, right in front of their eyes. What starts as a captivating romance fit for Clara Bow meets thrilling action western (a la "Billy The Kid") quickly turns into an epic tragedy as Young Bonnie and Clyde realize that their "fame" may not be exactly what they hoped for.

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I'm grateful to my team (most specifically to my music director, Jared McFarlin) who helped me bring this show to life, and to the young actors who masterfully took on such a mature, dark, and thrilling piece of theater.