This what a couple of our Star Potential Mom's had to say about the summer camps at our studio. They were reponding to a parent who was asking about the camps - they were asked to give positives and areas for improvement.
Hi!
Thanks for writing. We're happy to answer your questions about Star Potential Studios. Our daughter had a great time at Star Potential Studios musical theatre camp last summer. Our daughter says that the program was not classroom like. She says that it was really fun and they got to play lots of games including improv games. My daughter especially liked working on comedy bits. The campers also learned choreography and lyrics to several musical theatre pieces and at the end of the two weeks they put on a showcase of what they had learned. The songs they performed came from Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Annie. We were really impressed with the quality of the performances.
The group was about 8 to 10 in size and a mixed age group from age 10 to around 14. The kids were super friendly and mixed well and came from all over the place. I would say that they were probably a closer nit group at the end of the two weeks and they cooperated wonderfully. Everyone had equal opportunities to shine in the end of the camp showcase performance. I really regret not videotaping it.
I can't think of any areas to improve with the camp. My daughter came home happy every day and is now participating in the musical theatre performances in May. Perhaps, Star Potential Studios will outgrow their space in the future but it is fine for the groups they have right now. Lena and her teachers are very down to earth and welcoming and the studio has a grassroots/community feel to it. It's great to see that sort of feeling combined with their good quality teaching. I feel my daughter learned a lot about combining singing and dancing and acting out songs and working with other people while having a great time.
Sorry if I don't have very much critical to say about Star Potential Studios. It's probably not as flashy or as intense as the Randolph Academy but the teachers at Star Potential Studios know their stuff and seem to very much enjoy being with the kids. We had been looking for a replacement for the Showtime daycamp which was no longer running and we thought that Star Potential Studios worked out perfectly. We will be signing up our daughter again.
Hopefully that helps. We've had a lot of experience with musical theatre and drama camps as our daughter has been going to them since she was 5 years old and she is now almost 11. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.
Yours sincerely,
A.R.
Hello,
It is my pleasure to share some feedback regarding Star Potential Studios and the programs Julie took part in until January. As indicated Julie made the difficult choice to give up her involvement with Musical Theatre for now but we are still considering it for the Summer 08 depending on the age of others taking part.
As for her experience last year it was an awesome one. Julie enjoyed each day of the two week camp and learned a lot. The program was a nice balance of all aspects of Musical Theatre and Lena did a nice job of bringing a very mixed group together for a performance of Hair Spray titles for the grand finale. Although the studio space is small the group size seemed to work. I believe there were 8-10 students there each day and Julie never expressed concern about being cramped. The daily routine had a nice balance of small group and individual activities (based on what I heard from Julie). They had regular breaks for snacks, lunch and drinks as well as getting outside for some fresh air and exercise.
The cost was most reasonable and the hours worked fine for us as well. The best part for Julie I think was the active, hands on experience and interaction with Lena and her team. It was a very practical camp with a wide variety of exercises each day designed to develop them as whole Drama/Musical Theatre students.
The area for improvement that I can see would be the space itself. As the program grows and develops it is clear that a larger venue is in order. Clearly that is a catch 22 in that the larger the program the less intimate and I think the less hands on / charm it would have. WIth the cost of rental space in TO it's a veritable challenge to find something else I'm sure.
Hopefully this will be helpful in your decision making process and I'm confident your daughter will enjoy the camp or weekly programs. One of Julie's good friends is still involved in Senior Music Theatre and seems to be enjoying it immensly. Hopefully Julie's schedule will allow her to take part again in the future.
All the best,
C.C.
** The student name has been changed to "Julie" for privacy of the child.
