Nineteen young performers showed our community that they can come home again. These actors and singers, current and former students of the Chester Performing Arts Studio (CPAS), came back for a special camp reunion. This two-week celebration culminated with a performance of “High School Musical, Jr.” held July 22 at Thomas Dale High School.
The teenagers began planning this event while attending last summer’s camp session. Many of them have gone on to become strong contributors to such programs as Thomas Dale’s Specialty Center for the Visual and Performing Arts and the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology. Others have become anchors in their home schools’ performing arts departments. One of the performers even flew from her new home in Iowa and spent two weeks with a friend so she could participate. Since schedules are filled with gigs throughout the school year, they made a commitment to come back to their roots this summer.
Barbara Plunkett, the studio’s owner and the director of this show, was filled with nervous energy about this special camp session. “Every time I’ve raised the bar with this group of kids, they have either met or exceeded my expectations,” she said, “I wanted to make sure I had just the right show for them.” Plunkett, along with daughters Ali Coluccio and Erin Plunkett as choreographers as well as music director Carrie Bullard, rehearsed with the cast for two weeks. These experienced actors had no difficulty coming together to bring this show to life. They auditioned for parts; learned dialogue; dances;and songs, refined their dramatic and musical skills; and most importantly, had a wonderful time.
“This group is a family and have grown up together,” Plunkett said. She found pictures of the students’ first CPAS performances and put them in the show’s program along with a picture taken during this recent camp. “I’ve known many of these kids more than half their lives. It has been amazing to watch them grow up!”
There has been chatter about another reunion next summer. Stay tuned.
