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Friday, Jun. 12, 2009

Region’s aspiring pro performers hone crafts at prestigious camp

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Two summers ago, Modesto opera student Franky Heyward decided to get serious about her singing and attend the prestigious Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Michigan.

The camp has an all-star alumni list that includes pop singers Josh Groban, Norah Jones and Jewel.

"It's the best kids in the country and you can't coast," said Heyward, now 17.

When she returned from the six-week program, the teenager raved to all her friends about how wonderful it was.

Since then, three of her friends have gone on to enroll in the camp and two have taken the additional step of attending Interlochen's boarding school.

Colton Pometta, 18, of Modesto, and Jessica Gillette, 17, of Salida, attended the summer camp and just graduated from the school. Joseph Rykert, 17, of Modesto, will attend the camp starting next week.

All four of the kids have participated in community theater, including with Modesto Performing Arts and Townsend Opera Players.

Gillette said she was blown away by the talent of the other students at the boarding school.

"Every single one is driven and they know exactly what they want to do and they're really mature about it," she said.

Founded in 1928, the camp attracts about 2,500 students ages 8 to 18 from around the world each summer. Students can concentrate in one of seven areas -- creative writing, dance, motion-picture arts, music, theater, visual arts and general arts. The boarding school, for high school students, has an enrollment of about 500.

To get in the camp, candidates must prepare an audition video that showcases their talent.

Neither program is cheap. Tuition and expenses for the six-week summer program are about $8,000. For one year of the boarding school, it adds up to about $40,000.

Fortunately, scholarships are available to cover some of the cost. Rykert won a scholarship from the camp to cover about half the cost, and his family did fund-raising to make up the difference. It had a yard sale and put on a concert, inviting talented friends to perform.

Rykert's father, Joe, said it wasn't hard to get people to donate.

"They see a young kid who knows what he wants," the father said. "He's kept his nose clean."

His son said he is eager to be in the camp because he wants to be around students who are just as serious about their art as he is. In Modesto, most of the young people who participate in performances are just doing it for fun.

"I want to improve my own ability in singing, acting, dancing," said the younger Rykert, who just finished his junior year at Downey High School.

Pometta, who has played numerous lead roles in Modesto area theater, including the title character in "Oliver!" and Hansel in "Hansel and Gretel," said he was intimidated at first by the level of talent at Interlochen. At first, his confidence level went down.

"I was shocked by a new viewpoint of my art that I thought I knew so well," he said. "There was so much more. I knew I had a lot to learn, but I didn't know my entire perception of the art would change."

But Pometta said he achieved his goal in going to the school to get acting technique. He will use what he learned when he plays Paul in Modesto Performing Arts' July staging of "A Chorus Line."

"I think now I'm a lot more interesting to watch on stage, I'm a lot more comfortable," he said.

This fall, Pometta will head to Webster University in St. Louis, where he will pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater.

Gillette, who will study theater at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia beginning this fall, said Interlochen gave her a new appreciation for Shakespeare and serious theater. The teachers also introduced her to playwrights she had never heard of, like Neil LaBute.

"They stretch your creativity and make you analyze and be independent thinkers," she said.

Heyward, who will study vocal performance at California State University, Fullerton, said she learned about the camp when she used to live in Florida and attended a music prep school. Before she attended Interlochen, she didn't practice seriously, but as soon as she got there and saw her competition, she started practicing several hours a day.

She was amazed at the results she attained when she put out the effort.

"The teachers help you bring out the best in yourself," she said.