By Joel Grimsley, Arts Editor, and Ashlyn Armock, Aquinas Reporter
The Camp Rock cast performing “This is Our Song” – Photo by Joel Grimsley
On Feb. 28 Civic theatre opened their doors to the public for their season’s musical Disney’s Camp Rock the Musical. The show will run till March 16 and is directed by Jason Marlett.
The musical, which is a favorite Disney channel classic for Millennials and Gen Z, follows the story of both Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. The original movies starred teen idols Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.
For context, the first Camp Rock movie follows the story of Mitchie Torres who desperately wants to join a rock camp but due to her family’s financial situation, the only way she can attend is through working in Camp Rock’s kitchen. After a series of events, Mitchie and her talent is discovered by a teen pop star, Shane Gray. Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam follows Mitchie during her second summer at the camp. She plans a summer of fun and excitement with her friends and boyfriend Shane, but those plans go array when a new flashy camp, Camp Star, opens across the lake, threatening the future of Camp Rock. Mitchie, with the help of her friends, fights to keep Camp Rock afloat.
Sophomore Henry Vredevelt enjoyed going to the musical with his friends. “It was fun, very funny.”
The show, held in Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, the 5th largest community theatre in the country, has an impressively large and ornate classical theatre stage. Sophomore Delaney Pocevich, who was at the show, said “This was my first time at Civic and the venue is beautiful.”
Senior Drew Huegli attended to support his friends in the show. “The star of the show was Michaela Faith.” Huegli said “she literally stepped on my foot” referencing a part of the performance that involved the cast walking through the crowd.
Sophomore Michaela Faith, who played the character of Ella in Camp Rock, said that in comparison to Aquinas productions “Civic had a shorter rehearsal time, and had a wider range of people,” referencing the older and younger cast members involved in the show. “At civic we get to work with a lot of directors, whereas at Aquinas we get really familiar with the directors that we have, but honestly I love working with both.”
Camp Rock Advertisement – Photo from @grcivictheatre on Instagram
The performance had a large ensemble cast. With a total of 25 actors and actresses involved in the production, it meant the stage was crowded. Being part of such a large cast “had its ups and downs,” said Faith.
“One of the big pros of being in an Aquinas show is that in a smaller cast you can develop a more intimate relationship with each other and have really good cast bonding.” However there were some benefits of being part of a larger group, a large cast gives the stage a full presence and the audience could really feel it when they all sang together.
In order to make live theatre more accessible to the public, Civic Theatre does a “pick your price” every Wednesday. This let’s audience members pay what they can and want for a show, even as little as five dollars for a ticket. The “pick your price” night is something done to keep live theatre alive and encourage more members of the public to attend. Tickets for Camp Rock and other future shows can be found in the link below:
The Saint 