LOCALadk Magazine

16 Fall 2017 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Up and Comer By Andrew Scanio "One, Two, Three, Peach!" "Places, ever yone!" That's some of what you'd hear backstage before a per- formance of Camp Pendragon's James and the Giant Peach. The Pendragon Theater offers an intensive month-long the- ater camp for students 14 to 18 years old. Lucky for me, they needed a young person to play James, and I was chosen to be that person. I was fortunate enough last summer to experience my first year in Camp Pendragon, when we produced Rags. I had a lot of fun and met some great people and I feel this summer was an even better experience. One of the things I enjoyed most about Camp Pendragon is how supportive my fellow actors were. They were always friendly and kind and, most impor- tantly, encouraging to one another. They were always willing to lend a helping hand. Camp Pendragon allowed me to form close friendships with my fellow cast members. We spent three weeks of the summer working closely to rehearse and perfect dance moves and memorize lines. Terp- sie Toon, our ver y talented choreographer, worked us hard day after day until we got ever y step right. This was proba- bly the hardest part for me. I had to learn a lot of lines and dance moves in a short amount of time. Our music director, Elizabeth Cordes, helped me gain the confidence I needed to sing my solos. Fortunately, we put on 10 shows, which really allowed us to perfect even the smallest things throughout the course of all the shows. We got to perform one of those shows on the road at The View in Old Forge. This was extra special for me because I have several relatives that only live a short drive away and many of them were able to see me per- form for the first time. Knowing my family is in the audience always makes me strive to do my best. One of the more unique things about our performance of James and the Giant Peach was that we used life-sized pup- pets, which were designed and constructed by our ver y cre- ative director, Matthew Sorensen. I thought interacting with the puppets was a unique and interesting experience. After each show we had a meet and greet with the actors and pup- pets, which brought a lot of kids to the stage. The kids could get pictures with the puppets and a few even wanted a pic- ture with me and an autograph. That was a new experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I really enjoy performing at The Pendragon Theater be- cause it is a small and unique space. I feel the sounds can be heard better and the smaller size makes for a more in- teractive experience between the audience and the ac- tors. With the small size, I can really get a sense of how responsive the audience is to the performance. If you have never tried theater before, but are thinking about it, my advice would be – go for it! You will always be wel- comed and you are sure to make some fantastic friends! Pendragon Theater is in Saranac Lake and is made up of a group of art- ists who hail from the Adirondacks. They are passionate and dedicated to producing quality professional theatre productions throughout the year. Pendragon

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