Learning Stage

Camp 56

Learning Stage, the education committee of Princeton Theatre Group, is offering Camp 56, a two-week summer day camp for youth entering third grade through 2024 Junior High Graduates.

Participants will have the opportunity to experience and take part in live performances, while immersing themselves in the many aspects of producing a show. Camp directors are Jenna Tremblay-Reilly a graduate of Rhode Island College in Musical Theatre with a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling specializing in Expressive Arts Therapy and Drama Therapy. Jenna is a Crisis Clinician for Child & Family Services and RISE Counseling. Jenna works at Barrington Christian Academy as the Chair of the Performing Arts Department, where she is a K-12 full-time Performing Arts teacher, director/choreographer of middle and high school plays, musicals, and showcases. Reid Tomasson is a 2023 graduate studying filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago. Professional acting credits at Paramount Theatre (Aurora) and Festival 56.

Community acting and directing credits at Stage 212, Engle Lane Theatre, and IVCC. Reid has directed Camp 56 in 2022 and 2023. This energetic team is working closely with Artistic Directors Jimmy Calitri and Tim Seib to produce a theater immersive experience. The camp is held in cooperation with Festival 56, with 21 years of bringing outstanding professional theater to local audiences. Camp 56 itself is returning for its thirteenth consecutive year of providing a theater-based camp for young people.

The camp will be held weekdays (9-3) from June 24-July 5 at St. Matthews. Camp directors will engage campers in a series of fun-filled activities including song, dance, makeup, costuming, trips to the Festival sets, and visits with cast and crew. The culmination of the camp experience will be an onstage appearance – as part of the chorus ensemble in five to eleven performances (July 11-21) of the Festival 56 production of Urinetown.

The camp fee is $125 per child. Need-based scholarships are available as are family discounts. Registration forms can be picked up at the theater, or by emailing LearningStage@festival56.com. They can also be accessed below. Camp forms along with the registration fees, should be mailed to the Festival box office at 316 S. Main St., Princeton, IL 61356. If you choose to pay for your registration online, please go to our ticketing site and click on Camp 56. Service fees apply when purchasing online.

Camp 56 is grateful to its sponsors, including the Sun Foundation’s “Community Arts Access Regranting Program,” which is funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and local businesses and individuals, The Princeton Closet, Bob Glaser, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, The Bryant Club and Monical’s Pizza.

Camp 56 Forms

Registration Form

Medical Information Form

Performance Schedule for Camp 56 Urinetown

Risk & Liability Release Form

Scholarship Form

Camper Release Form