Fourth through tenth graders who live in Galeton, Southern Tioga or Wellsboro Area School District communities and attend public or private schools or are home schooled are invited to participate in Hamilton-Gibson’s “CATS” Winter Theatre Arts Camp. 

The camp is free. Each camper will receive the script, printed materials, a T-shirt and instruction in theatre arts.

Beginning Monday, Feb. 27, the invitation to participate and the registration form for the camp being held in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro will be available on the Hamilton-Gibson website at hamiltongibson.org or can be requested by calling HG at 570-724-2079 or emailing hamgib@gmail.com.

In order to participate in the camp, the registration form must be filled out, signed by a parent or guardian and the camper, and turned in by mailing it to the Hamilton-Gibson office at 29 Water Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901 or emailing it to hamgib@gmail.com. The deadline to register for the camp is Friday, March 10.

The after school camp in the Coolidge Theatre will be held from 3:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. beginning Friday, March 17 and continuing on Monday, March 20; Wednesday, March 22; Friday, March 24; Monday, March 27; Wednesday, March 29; Thursday, March 30; Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), Monday, April 3; Wednesday, April 5; Friday, April 7; Monday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 12.

Campers will have fun learning choreography, how to project their voices when speaking and singing and how to create a character. 

The camp will end with Pay-What-You-Can performances for the public at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 14 and at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 15 in the Coolidge Theatre.

“Choosing to do the “CATS: Young Actors Edition” is a huge leap for us,” said Thomas Putnam, Hamilton-Gibson’s artistic director. “This one-hour adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical is specially tailored to give a young cast an exciting and rewarding experience,” Putnam said.

All of the characters in the play are cats of various ages and sizes, each with a definitely unique personality.

“The show is a full hour of singing and dancing with very little dialogue, which is a departure from our typical camp productions. It offers a number of solo opportunities and features an ensemble throughout rather than a title character or just a few people with a lot of lines,” said Putnam.

“The music is unique, mysterious, fun and challenging. We’ve added a few more days to the camp than normal to allow for the increased amount of singing and dancing,” he said.

For more information, email hamgib@gmail.com or call the H-G office at 570-724-2079.