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 The Discovery Camp Players is made up of 18 young
children who spent a week being taught music and dance by husband
and wife duo Robert and Virginia LuPone of New York. The week’s work
was highlighted by a performance entitled “Rise Up: A story of love
and transformation" on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. above the Palms
Grille Restaurant in downtown historic Atlanta.
A standing room only crowd of parents, grandparents and other family
members watched the ten-minute performance and then enjoyed cake,
punch and fellowship as the campers proudly moved about the room
receiving congratulations for a spectacular performance.
Cathy Maciariello, the librarian of the Atlanta Public Library, was
responsible for bringing the LuPone family to Atlanta. Robert and
Virginia made the cross-country trip with their eleven year-old son
Orlando and the family dog.
“We’ve known each other many, many years,” said Maciariello. “I once
worked for the Andrew Mellon Foundation in New York and I was in
charge of the national grant giving program for the Mellon
Foundation and Bob runs an off-Broadway theater (Manhattan Class
Company, also referred to as MCC) in New York and that was one of
the theaters we funded at the foundation. I got to know him and his
partner of MCC and we’ve been friends ever since.”
Maciariello, who noted this is the fifth year of the summer arts
camps for the local youth, is a big supporter of the arts. “I think
that art-making is one of the best community builders that exists
and the opportunities for kids here to be exposed to professional
artists and theatre and music are rare.
We’ve done different things each year. A couple of years ago we had
a teaching artist from Juilliard who came and did composition during
the music week. This is the second year we’ve worked with Bob and
Virginia. We do theatre, visual arts, music and dance.”
“It costs the children a nominal fee,” said Maciariello. “We receive
a grant from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation. They allow
us to keep our tuition at about $25 a week. We give discounts for
multiple kids in the same family who come the same week.”
The LuPone’s relationship with Maciariello is the primary reason the
couple comes to Atlanta, but it’s obvious the family truly enjoys
building relationships with the kids of the small community. Robert,
who has had a very successful career on Broadway and on television,
said of the experience working with the local youth, “What’s
interesting is I have as much fun doing this. There’s something
about (how) they listen, they want to do it right and they work
hard, because they don’t have an exposure to this. For us it’s a
wonderful experience.”
Robert’s wife Virginia is equally excited to teach the children and
she shares the directing duties with her husband throughout the
week. At one point during rehearsal for Friday night’s program,
Virginia said to the children, “Don’t hesitate. Grab hold of that
confidence.”
Virginia, a teacher in her own right, is a constant encouraging
voice to the children and she has a method about how to help build
confidence in children.
She said, “I think it’s important every one of us needs to feel good
about ourselves and what we do and how we do it,” said Virginia.
“The way you do that is actually not by being perfect. It’s by
making mistakes, stumbling forward, getting up and going it again
and then giving it your hardest every time. That is one of the most
difficult things all of us have to face in life and in this little
tiny microcosm of an environment, it’s a safe place to do that and
to sort of see yourself a little differently. Now I’m going to give
myself 100 percent to it and see what happens. I am gonna try. I’m
gonna perform. I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna risk. I think that’s how
you develop confidence."
She continued, "You don’t develop confidence because you do it
right. You do it, you achieve and then you become confident. I think
this is a great place to do that. I think also because for many of
them, you can see (in) some of them, they know these words, and then
some of them are just giving it a try. They are here for the
experience."
Virginia said, "So there’s a nice combination that we’re able to
encourage those who are already enthusiastic, and for those who
aren’t sure about it, they can see themselves in a confident way. I
know I can do this. I can perform in front of people because no
matter what you do in life you are going to have to speak to
someone, you are going to have to talk, you are going to have to
present your ideas to someone and having the confidence to do that
in front of people, this is a great environment for children to
learn that, so they can advocate for themselves in the future
whatever that is.”
All the while Robert and Virginia are offering this advice to young
kids who are soaking up their words like little sponges. Young
children like Gwen, Ella and Abigail hang on every word.
Seven year-old Gwen Tierney was all smiles as her dad, Jake, picked
her up from rehearsal on performance day. When asked what she had
learned during the week at camp, the second grader at Emden
Elementary School said, “I have learned to help others when they are
sad.” As one of the Magic-makers in the program, Tierney was one of
the younger children who helps the older children transform from sad
to happy. Tierney also likes singing and dancing. As a dance student
at Audra’s Dance of Lincoln, she has taken ballet and tap classes
and “next year I think I might do hip hop,” she said with a big
smile.
Ten year-old Ella Sunday of Ridgeview Colfax is a veteran of the
Atlanta Public Library camps, having attended every camp over the
last five years. When asked what she likes best about the week in
Atlanta, she said, “I really like seeing Virginia, Bob and Orlando
here every year. And then I like spending time with my grandparents
more because I am here with my grandmas, Mary and Margie, and my
grandpa, Jim.”
As one of the Seekers in the production, Sunday said, “I have liked
learning our new dances and our new songs like 'Hurt' and 'Rise
Up.'"
“This is like the beginning of us being actors. It’s like inspiring
us,” said Sunday, who obviously has a passion already for performing
at a young age.
Sunday’s friend, Abigail Goodman, shared the front row of the stage
with her, and the two were constantly spotted giggling and smiling
at one another. Nine-year-old Goodman, who goes to Olympia South
Elementary School, is a two-year veteran of the camp and she says
she loves everything about this camp. “We have to learn the dance
and music and the songs,” she said.
Goodman was also a Seeker in the production and when asked if she
had acting in her future, she immediately answered, “Yes I do.”
[to top of second column] |
At this point in their careers, the man teaching them
with ever-so-much patience is just someone they call “Bobby.” These
kids truly do not realize the magnitude of Robert LuPone’s career
and he is more than happy with it being that way.
LuPone incidentally is a graduate of the famed
Juilliard School in NYC. As an actor and artistic director he has
film, television and stage work to his credits. He was nominated for
a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work as
Zach in “A Chorus Line.” He also created the role of Zach Grayson on
the television soap opera “All My Children” and said of that
experience “That was the best job I’ve ever done. I was the happiest
I’ve ever been doing that job in this business. The ensemble work,
the cast and how we put shows together was great fun. I enjoyed
myself.”
In return Bobby is teaching these kids all about working together
and having fun, all the while just remaining the guy in front of
them who listens intently, smiles frequently and nods occasionally.
He does all of this more often than not as he looks over his glasses
and even gets “called out” by his students if he makes a mistake.
“He created that environment on purpose,” said
Virginia. “Bobby is a big believer in making mistakes and if you
don’t make mistakes you can’t learn. If you don’t make mistakes you
can’t create. You’re not going to do something perfect all the time.
A lot of these things that they’ve created, the words that they
speak, they are the ones who wrote that. They created that and kind
of workshopped it so they do feel ownership for this production and
for what’s going on.”
Virginia also explained the reason behind the songs chosen in the
production. “We try to pick songs that are positive,” she said.
“They know these songs. We love the idea of 'Happy.' That’s a great
message. It’s a great song. They are very familiar with it. It’s a
popular summer song so that’s something that gets them excited. It’s
a great number to end on.”
A song very familiar to all generations, 'Somewhere Over the
Rainbow' was also chosen. “Bobby is a huge fan of this version of
'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' It is obviously a classic song, but
also it’s just a beautiful, sweet rendition,” said Virginia.
Virginia continued explaining the song choices and the messages
involved. “Once we started to see the arc of where it was going,
'Rise Up' became an important part of that arc. It’s also a song
that Bob really enjoys. He teaches dance back in our hometown
(Athens, New York) and it’s one of the songs he’s choreographing
right now, so it’s in his brain. It was nice once again to see that
theme that started to develop, where you are going for happiness as
our end, and developing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' which is
hopeful and 'Rise Up' became part of that journey.
"As a result we went back to two cellists version of 'Hurt' by
Johnny Cash. That was just such a sad song and with the two
cellists, it is really beautiful and painful. That’s our dark, and
then we make our journey to our light of happiness. We picked our
music art-wise,” Virginia said.
Robert chimed in, “An important lesson for the kids here, life can
be difficult, but at the same time at the end of the rainbow,
there’s happiness.”
In the performance Friday evening, the kids performed
'Hurt' in Scene One, 'Rise Up' in Scene Two, 'Somewhere Over the
Rainbow' in Scene Three and 'Happy' in Scene Four. The younger
children in Ensemble One were the Magic-makers, while the older kids
made up the Seekers in Ensemble Two.
Both Robert and Virginia were delighted with how well the
performance worked out.
Virginia noted, “It worked out perfectly then, because our older
kids were the ones who were in despair. They are our Seekers. But
our younger kids could come in and be magic. They are our
Magic-makers. So it’s their job to bring the older ones up and to
remind them that life can be great and to bring them to somewhere
over the rainbow to give them hope. It was nice because they each
had a central role."
She said, "Also you can see that, and this is very important in
theatre, in music and in all the arts; collaboration, communication,
working together so they all have a role; they all depend on each
another and they have to create something together. It’s also one of
those classic 21st century skills that we need, you know, working
together and collaboration.”
Even if some do not pursue the arts, this is a good point brought up
by both Robert and Virginia.
Robert elaborated, “The point is for them to learn lessons that they
can use for themselves in life and living and hopefully being
responsible citizens of our country. That’s what we want. That’s
what the arts can do, that’s what athletics can do, that’s what
education can do, and we all want that to happen.”
Both Robert and Virginia feel so good in their heart knowing they
are influencing these children in such a positive way. “That’s why
we come here,” said Robert.
Virginia added more insight, “It’s creative for us and it’s fun for
us. At the end of the week none of us can believe from the very
first day, where they are looking at us like we are crazy, until the
very end, where they are making their parents clap and cry and
cheer. It’s terrific. Last year, and this is what I want to say
about the parents in this community, every one of them came up to
us. I am a teacher and Bobby has worked in the arts for many years,
and I’ve never had an experience where every single parent and
family member came up to us and thanked us for our time. It is such
a lovely community. They really care and they really understand the
value of this, and that also makes it feel really good.”
Robert chimed in with more thoughts. “Catherine gets kudos because
she had this vision to bring us out here. So the vision of
Catherine, in terms of what the arts mean to her, what she wants to
impart (of) the arts for her community and what the library means to
her, I mean she’s Catherine of the ship,” he laughed.
Drawing serious, Robert spoke affectionately of the kids and their
parents in the community. “These kids are polite. These kids are
respectful. They are being brought up in a way that’s really quite
wonderful.”
Virginia chimed in with her positivity. “They work really, really
hard. They treat each other well. One of the things about this area
is, in our experience coming from a different part of the country,
is that there is a civility that’s very important and these kids
definitely reflect that in how they treat us, themselves and each
other. We’ve experienced that a lot from the community as well. It’s
really lovely. It’s a nice place to come.”
Will the LuPone family be back next year for this camp? Orlando
answered quickly with a “Yes!”
Discovery Camp Players
Kennedi Craig
Abigail DeLoriea
Elyse Eimer
J.R. Simpson
Lucas Sloan
Elora Stribling
Gwen Tierney
Tate Whitted
Hanna Banister
Marli Evans
Abigail Goodman
Kailey Little
Orlando LuPone
Ryan Simpson
Matthew Sloan
Rilian Stribling
Ella Sunday
Macey Sympson
[Teena Lowery] |
-Lincoln-IL/2831225863)
