Xanadu Showcases the Egyptian's YouTheatre Camp Attendees

The Egyptian YouTheatre Camp has been in progress all summer long and by closing day, will have served 574 students. The camp’s main stage annual production will be Xanadu, on stage July 27-29.

Directed by Amanda Anne Dayton, the Xanadu cast of 18 ranges in age from 12 to 18 years old. The lead actors are great matches for their characters. According to Dayton, “Ava Turchan plays our leading man, Sonny, and it was an easy casting choice to make. Ava’s got the laidback charm that Sonny needs, and they’ve got the vocals to match. And Emma Jasenovic plays our leading woman, Kira, and was cast for her stellar vocals. She also has the strength and confidence we needed for Kira.”

The kids and the teachers have really enjoyed working on this fun production. “I’ve loved doing a show that encourages the students to be as goofy as they want,” says Dayton. “There are no traditional Musical Theatre rules when it comes to a show like Xanadu and it’s been very rewarding watching the students enjoy the freedom of exploring their humor and art however works best for them.”

A typical day at camp starts with a warm-up, either dance or vocal depending on what is being covered that day. Then the campers spend a lot of time learning the music and the dances for the show and plug in the blocking for any scenes in between. 

Audience members “of a certain generation” should be prepared for some toe-tapping and the urge to sing along! Many songs from Xanadu topped the charts in the ‘80s and will be nostalgic for the parents and grandparents in the audience. “I like to think that the songs grew on our students over time,” says Dayton “Either that, or they were humoring our production teams excitement about how incredible these songs are.”

For the songs, the humor and the always amazing talent of our YouTheatre cast and crew, you won’t regret taking a trip to Xanadu.

Check the Egyptian website for tickets!