RDC theater camp celebrates young performers

Robert D Campbell Junior High’s Summer Theater Intensive is in its third year. This year, the inten­sive is doing some­thing dif­fer­ent and spend­ing the two weeks putting togeth­er a showcase. 

Under the instruc­tion of Holly Bennett and Bellamy Miller, the RDC Summer Intensive pro­vides an oppor­tu­ni­ty for Clark County mid­dle and high school­ers to attend a two-week-long the­ater camp. This year’s inten­sive had per­for­mances on June 27 and 28. 

While there are ample oppor­tu­ni­ties for pur­su­ing the­ater through­out the school year, the sum­mer months have a vacan­cy for school musi­cals. Because of Bennett and Miller, mid­dle and high school­ers now have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to prac­tice their craft year-round. 

In past years, this two-week-long inten­sive pro­duced two dif­fer­ent per­for­mances that the stu­dents put on. A show­case com­bin­ing songs from dif­fer­ent musi­cals would end the first week, while a full-length musi­cal would con­clude the sec­ond week. 

This year, how­ev­er, the young per­form­ers are pour­ing all of their time into a show­case. Performing songs from shows rang­ing from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Hadestown, there is vari­ety sure to please almost every theater-goer. 

With this vari­ety comes an envi­ron­ment that thrives on col­lab­o­ra­tion. Bennett tries to give all the stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to per­form to the best of their abil­i­ties, while also get­ting to do things they want to do. 

“We have a lot of cre­ative free­dom as the stu­dents,” said senior Ella Howton. “We get to advo­cate for our ideas and do what feels right for us in the moment. It’s real­ly a col­lab­o­ra­tion between teach­ers and stu­dents, which is some­thing that we don’t nor­mal­ly get to do in a reg­u­lar­ly sched­uled performance.” 

Students attend rehearsals last­ing from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. every day for two weeks in order to get their per­for­mances ready. During these rehearsals, they are allowed to dance, sing, jour­nal, col­lab­o­rate, and act. 

Since its begin­ning in the sum­mer of 2024, the RDC Summer Intensive has put on two full-length musi­cals. The Addams Family graced the stage in its inau­gur­al year, with Shrek the Musical hav­ing been per­formed in 2025. 

While there will be no tra­di­tion­al musi­cal this year, these past pro­duc­tions have helped young actors in the com­mu­ni­ty blos­som. With help in estab­lish­ing con­fi­dence in their abil­i­ties, these per­form­ers have strength­ened dur­ing this intensive. 

McKinley Harper is one indi­vid­ual who cred­its her growth to par­tic­i­pat­ing in the RDC Summer Intensive, specif­i­cal­ly the pro­duc­tion of The Addams Family.  

“The first time I tru­ly burst out of my shell was the sum­mer of my fresh­man year when I got to play Morticia,” she said. 

Whereas McKinley gained con­fi­dence from play­ing a lead­ing char­ac­ter, Bennett and Miller hope that stu­dents gain con­fi­dence from being a part of an ensem­ble as well. With a show­case rather than a musi­cal, there is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for more stu­dents to be highlighted. 

“I love art, and I think every­one here real­ly just enjoys being taught by Ms. Bennett and Ms. Miller,” said Cooper Galloway. “I think a show done by [Bennett and Miller] is unique, and you can’t real­ly find it any­where else.” 

Concluding its third year, the RDC Summer Intensive is hop­ing to con­tin­ue pro­vid­ing sum­mer the­ater for Clark County mid­dle and high school­ers for many years.