This week at MadCAP...

This week at MadCAP marks the final performance of our academic 2010-2011 season, and we have a wonderful performance to cap off the year!  Join us this Friday, May 20 at 7 PM for a Company M show to finish the year in style.

While we're talking about HAPPENINGS, invite a friend or two to join us in the studios on Tuesday, June 7 for an open house & registration Q & A with me to get set for summer fun.

While talking with our Intermediate Ensemble this year, I discovered that they are concerned not everyone knows some important things about MadCAP, and here's what we came up with for our TOP FIVE things we wish people knew.

1.  MadCAP is a great place to meet new friends, sing, have a fun time, and put on a show!  MadCAP hosts students from around the city and the county.

2.  Everyone who wants to be a part of MadCAP gets a part, and not just a little teeny-tiny part.  MadCAP makes sure everyone is on stage singing & acting as much as they want to be!

3.  You don’t need to have lots of experience.  MadCAP is a school of the arts, and the main focus is on EDUCATION!  It’s OK if you haven’t already done a bunch of musicals...MadCAP staff is here to teach you!

4.  There is something for EVERYONE.  MadCAP teachers and staff work with individuals to make sure that they are appropriately challenged, but that the experience is something to be proud of.

5.  MadCAP is a place to feel good about yourself.  MadCAP staff works hard to make sure that all students and staff can work in a safe and positive environment, and that joy & confidence shines through in MadCAP’s public performances and events

Something Fun for Monday

A pretty good start to the day..., a photo by {kj} on Flickr.

Hi all!

Today, instead of an article about MadCAP summer programs, I thought i would share something fun with you. Occasionally the students and I organize ourselves into a "Secret Santa" kind of thing where we exchange low cost or home-made gifts.

This year, I was the lucky recipient of a poem which now hangs on my office wall for all to read. It is decorated with doodles, and I LOVE it. Claire Wisniewski wrote it for me, and I thought I'd share it here today, because it seems like a nice thing to share on a rainy day.

KJERSTIE
The sky is dark, with bright shrinky dinks lighting the night,
Until an invisible hand waves an air gun, shrinking them out of sight.
In a Disney-land, two princesses toss a yellow ball of yarn into the sky,
Becoming the sun.
Against a blue curtain, it hangs.
Stray threads wind down to rest in several knitting baskets,
Lighting the colorful fields of skeins.
Tiny buildings down below bend into musical notes that sing into the clouds.
When the music stops, the sky becomes black,
MAD clouds start to rain, dropping CAPS to the ground.
The yarn is whisked away, once again bringing out the shrunken stars.

I love my students, and I'm so lucky to get to work with them and know their families!

What makes it so much fun?

Well, it's difficult to say...what does make summer at MadCAP such a special experience?  Some would say it is because school isn't in session, so they have more time to concentrate fully on the experience of performing in the musical.  Some might say it is because they get to spend their time at a safe place where they have a feeling of BELONGING doing what they love.  Some might say it is because the staff and intern staff is fantastic.

 Even others might tell you that summer at MadCAP is special because of the new friends they meet from different schools and different communities in and around Madison.

 Of course, the performances are always fun...some might tell you that they love summer at MadCAP for the chance to perform in community venues for so many folks that are around looking for fun things to see and do.

I guess the final answer here is that summer at MadCAP is great for a million different reasons, and the greatness is individual to each and every person participating, from student to teacher to volunteer intern staff.


Why don't you join us this summer and find out what makes summer at MadCAP great for you!  Register online today.