Saturday, April 27, 3 PM
General Admission – all tickets $5
The Story of Leap Day
(Inspired by the short story “The Days of the Week” by Hans Christian Andersen)
Every Leap Day, the Days of the Week have a day off and celebrate with a huge party at the House of Father Time. However, this Leap Day, nothing goes as planned. The Days feel overworked, demanding an 8th day be added to the week. Tuesday and Friday’s friendship is not what it used to be. And Mother Nature makes a surprising appearance which puts everyone on edge!
This 30-minute musical is about valuing yourself for who you are.
Friday, April 26, 7 PM
General Admission – all tickets $5
The Story of Imagine a Dragon
The dragon is back in town! Well… not really. That’s the story a ragtag band of innkeepers makes up, desperate to draw questing heroes to the struggling Dancing Dragon Inn. Soon the inn is full of unexpected guests, from an army of princesses out to prove their bravery to a group of overwhelmed heroes trying to hold onto their fame. But what happens if they all discover the innkeepers’ dragon story is made up? Could there be more than one way to save the day? An epic folk-rock score brings magic to this funny, heartfelt fantasy musical.
Are you ready for THE SUMMER OF WANDER?
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Camps run Monday-Friday, 9 AM – 4 PM with new themes every week.
- Enroll your camper in the grade level they will be entering in Fall 2024, or their “rising grade.”
- Every week ends with a final showcase. Most Friday showcases start with a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and an informal performance at 4:30 PM. Check your camp week for more details.
- Yonder Sessions: Supervised before and after care is available every day of the week except for Friday afternoons. Morning Yonder starts at 8 A.M. and Afternoon Yonder ends at 5 P.M. A week-long Morning or Afternoon Yonder is $20 per family. The rate for both sessions is $40 per family. Single-sessions are $10 per session per family. Please schedule all Yonder Sessions with our Community Engagement and Education Director after you’ve registered for camp at allison@georgedaily.org.
Strategy. Tactics. Teamwork.
K-12th grade/$90/June 3-7; 9 AM to 4 PM
Triwizard Tournament meets Lord of the Rings
What you’ll do: For Millenia, dwarves, elves, humans, and others have come together every four years to find out who will play the Chord of the Rings! Put your strategic thinking, collaboration skills, and endurance to the test while playing brand-new games from faraway lands. (But never fear; you’ll be able to go for the gold in your favorite human games, too. <Ehem> [Stratego.])
If you like: Playing all day (literally), creating fantastical characters, testing new games, cheering on your team
What you’ll need: an eagle eye, elf stealth, second breakfast, and courage for a leap of faith
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a Showcase at 4:30 PM on Friday, June 7.
Create. Debate. Rate.
K-12th grade/$90/June 10-14; 9 AM to 4 PM
It’s like someone collaged the Brothers Grimm onto an episode of The Fairly Oddparents. Or Looney Tunes.
What you’ll do: Fairy tale characters are filled to the brim with superpowers and super problems. Each day, practice your reasoning skills while delighting in the timeless tradition of debating “Who would win?”. Once you’ve chosen a character for the day (“a Big Bad Wolf who can go invisible while singing show tunes but also can’t stop sobbing”), work in small groups to create, rehearse, and perform new and improved tales!
If you like: making absurd arguments, mashups and collabs, March Madness brackets, designing and wearing costumes
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a Showcase at TBD on Friday, June 14.
6th-12th grade/$90/June 10-14; 9 AM to 4 PM (half-day camp – $50; 9 AM-noon or 1-4 PM)
The Writer’s Room: “Where creativity is unleashed, stories are grown, and friendships are forged.” The Writer’s Room helps develop the writer in all of us.
Wondrous Tales (AM)
What you’ll do: What if the strange creature from your dream followed you home with a simple request? Or you were able to say what you truly thought in a pivotal moment? In this Writer’s Room session, work with J to compose monologues (one-person speeches) loosely based on your experiences, with fantastical twists.
If you like: writing, fun, controlled chaos, creating characters and giving them a voice
Gamemaster Boot Camp (PM)
What you’ll do: Do you enjoy playing cooperative role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons? So do we! But in order to play, a brave soul has to put on the mantle of Gamemaster – a tricky balancing act of party planner and narrator who’s also facing down a bunch of ravenously snacky adventurers.
This camp is a chance to practice your skills through hands-on experiences — and also to play a bunch of different role-playing games in just a week! Resident GDA GMs J and Ryan will be your guides.
If you like: world building AND reading the room, funny voices AND spreadsheets, keeping everyone involved AND moments of intense focus
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony and Showcase on Friday, June 14, time TBD.
Jokes. Cartoons. Guffaws.
K-3rd grade/$90/June 17-21; 9 AM to 4 PM
Ask big silly questions, then create art and tell stories inspired by what you thought and felt!
What you’ll do: When it comes to muscles, it’s use it or lose it—even your silly muscles! That’s why the teachers at GDYT are so excited to learn from the greatest experts in the silliness field—our campers! When you visit The Daily Clubhouse, you’ll explore silly stories and create your own by playing pretend! On the last day of camp, we’ll invite our family and friends to join us in the Clubhouse to see some of our stories and view our artwork.
If you like: make believe; Mo Willems; drawing, doodling, and dreaming; joke books
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a Showcase at 4:30 PM on Friday, June 21.
Design. Make. Celebrate.
4th-12th grade/$90/June 17-21; 9 AM to 4PM
What happens when you bring live music, dance, and visual art together on the same stage? Some might call it a three-ring circus, but we say it’s ART Unleashed!
What you’ll do: All week, we’ll practice set-painting techniques by turning the entire 40-foot stage floor into our canvas. This will be the third year painting a stage mural, which also doubles as the grid for playing lots of our “GDYT-original” games. But this year’s mural, featuring a lake and greenery entangled in a Celtic knot pattern, will have a secondary purpose – it will be part of the set for the Auditorium’s summer production of The Hobbit! You’ll also add finishing touches to Hobbit puppets, sets, and props for its performances the first weekend of August.
From these visual creations, we will UNLEASH camper-led music and dance numbers for a Friday showcase that could feature an impromptu camper band, a brand-new dance craze, or something much sillier!
If you like: a perfect playlist, America’s Got Talent, starting with an idea and making it a reality
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4:30 PM and a Showcase at 5 PM on Friday, June 21.
Camp details coming soon!
Build. Battle. Create.
K-12th grade/$90/June 24-28; 9 AM to 4 PM
It’s been hundreds of years since a select group of adventurers ventured outside the isolated city of Aarke for the first time in living memory and established the frontier outpost of Lochport. Today, Lochport is still a rough-and-tumble trading hub, but ever since a mysterious inventor moved to town, new and exciting steam-powered technologies are popping up everywhere!
What you’ll do: In Lochport, you’ll build your own machines and adventuring equipment, battle ruffians and monsters, and create a hundred stories through your deeds! This immersive experience is called live-action adventure gaming, and camp will combine live-action role-playing with many other types of games and quests of endurance and skill. Don’t forget — Wednesday is Festival Day!
If you like: adventure stories, wacky machines, cardboard castles, thinking fast on your feet
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a traditional Roll-for-Sundae Ice Cream Party, along with a viewing of our creations at 4:30 PM on Friday, June 28.
K-3rd grade/$90/July 8-12; 9 AM to 4 PM (available as a half-day camp – $50; 9 AM-noon or 1-4 PM)
Wanted: Goofy characters with a song in their heart and some pep in their step!
Musical Theatre
What you’ll do: Enjoy creative movement and music with friends in a playful atmosphere.
If you like: Show tunes and dance grooves.
This camp will have a 4 PM Shout Out Ceremony and a 4:30 PM Showcase on Friday, July 12 (AM-only campers will need to return at 3:30 PM).
Do Not Bring Your Dragon to Theatre Camp
What you’ll do: If you bring a dragon to theatre camp…what would happen? We’ll use some favorite dragon stories to create a brand-new short play to teach why you should never, ever, ever bring your dragon to theatre camp! (Unless it’s opposite day…)
If you like: tacos, naming and training your pet dragon, saving the day
This camp will have a 4 PM Shout Out Ceremony and a 4:30 PM Showcase on Friday, July 12.
Jazz Square. Sing Out. Speak Up.
4th-6th grade/$90/July 8-12; 9 AM to 4 PM (available as a half-day camp – $50; 9 AM-noon or 1-4 PM)
Wanted: Aspiring triple threats who love to sing, dance, and act and will answer a call to adventure.
Musical Theatre
What you’ll do: Explore the main food groups of musical theatre and prepare to perform on the final day!
If you like: Getting show tunes stuck in your head, being one of a kind, thinking on your feet
Here Be Dragons
What you’ll do: Follow the call to adventure to the extreme edges of the map, where there absolutely be dragons. Explore the vast expanse of dragon stories and bring them to life using theatrical styles from across history.
If you like: adventure stories, working together, making a scene
Audition. Rehearse. Perform.
7th-12th grade/$90/July 8-12; 9 AM to 4 PM
The Play Goes Wrong meets Forbidden Broadway
What you’ll do: Spend the week rehearsing comedic song and dance numbers, stunts, and scenes for a GDYT-original musical pastiche, The No Good, Very Bad Musical Goes Right!
It’s two hours until the opening night of The No Good, Very Bad Musical, and Theatre People’s Playhouse is just starting a put-in rehearsal for a new ensemble member (the last one got food poisoning, if you must know). It’s an original show, a labor of love, a tribute to the director’s favorite musicals in the style of The Play That Goes Wrong.
Everything went wrong without a hitch at dress rehearsal! But the mistakes started to unravel almost immediately after Sarah, the stage manager, visited a pop-up antique shop looking for a last-minute prop. See what happens when the Theatre People come to terms with the horrifying fact that The No Good, Very Bad Musical might just go right.
If you like: theatre people, comedy, musical theatre, and possibly cursed objects
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony and Showcase at 5:30 PM on Friday, July 12.
Explore. Play. Perform.
K-3rd grade/$90/July 15-19; 9 AM to 4 PM
Calling all friends of forests (and the trees, plants, fungi, animals, and insects who live there)!
What you’ll do: Throughout the week, you’ll work together using roleplaying games to create a group of woodland characters and tell stories about their adventures, like in Frog and Toad. We’ll also get outside for short bursts of inspiration and do some exploring, observing, and collecting that we’ll use to create experiments and crafts back at the Auditorium.
Finally, we’ll create a costume for our character and a puppet-sized version of one of their smaller woodland friends and use both for a theatrical woodland spectacular performed on the set of The Hobbit at the end of the week!
If you like: telling stories and singing songs, woodland animals and insects, forests, exploring, making and wearing costumes, doing experiments
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a Showcase at 4:30 PM on Friday, July 19.
Ready. Steady. Go.
4th-12th grade/$90/July 15-19; 9 AM to 4 PM
Get ready for the ultimate puppetry adventure on the hottest new reality show
What you’ll do: On Xtreme Puppet Challenge, every day brings a new puppet creation and an exhilarating challenge inspired by the biggest reality TV hits. The twist? You won’t know what challenge awaits you and your creation until you’ve already crafted your puppet for the day! From heart-pounding tasks inspired by The Amazing Race to talent showcases straight out of Top Chef or America’s Got Talent, you’ll need to think on your feet and adapt to the circumstances to thrive.
Despite its name, Xtreme Puppet Challenge is not a cutthroat competition, and no one is ever voted off the island. At the end of each day, we’ll watch all the entries as a group and give shoutouts and constructive feedback to use the next day with your next puppet and video entry.
If you like: having the time of your life under pressure, making puppets and making videos, laughing ’til you cry
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 5 PM and a filmed Showcase at 5:30 PM.
All hands on deck.
7th-12th grade/$90/July 15-19; 9 AM to 4 PM
Are you ready to roll up your sleeves, dive into the world of technical theater, and be part of something truly extraordinary?
What you’ll do: Join our Tech Crew for the big GDYT 25th-anniversary production of The Hobbit! This will be a week of true hands-on experience, implementing and troubleshooting the light and sound design, finalizing set dressing and organizing props, and assisting as needed for the production. Together, we’ll create memories that will last a lifetime and leave audiences spellbound.
Performances of The Hobbit are Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4. Signing up to participate in Hobbit Tech Camp does not obligate you to actually join the backstage crew or attend anything beyond the week of camp, but we encourage you to attend the show and experience what you helped bring to life!
If you like: teamwork and problem-solving, hand tools and computer software, losing track of time in a focused flow
What you’ll need: curiosity, the scientific method, a wrench (we’ll provide the wrench)
Imagine. Plan. Make.
K-3rd grade/$90/July 22-26; 9 AM to 4 PM
Journey to an island where the wild things are!
What you’ll do: This week, we’ll create our own world of monsters inspired by Japanese yokai, the mischievous spirits who influenced the characters of Pokémon and Hayao Miyazaki’s creatures, like Totoro and the sprites in Spirited Away. They usually look pretty cute but act kind of naughty (like licking the faces of people who are on their cell phones during a play).
Create your own yokai and bring them to life as life-sized cardboard puppets! We’ll end the week with a fabulous Monster Mash ball with our families.
If you like: Pokémon, drawing, making, and painting, Where the Wild Things Are, folk and fairy tales
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4 PM and a showcase at 4:30 PM on Friday, July 26.
Audition. Rehearse. Perform.
4th-12th grade/$90/July 22-26; 9 AM to 4 PM
From the creative team behind Alberta Midnight and the Eaters of the Lost Art
What you’ll do: The Youth Theatre’s in-house script publishing project, Chocodile Ink, presents its next dazzling creative adventure—The Thrilling Mystery Hour! This summer, meet the Zoinks Agency, a group of friends who are also detectives. This radio-drama homage to Scooby Doo features the gang hard at work on cases perilous and spooky.
Thrilling Mystery Hour Presents: Zoinks! Real Monsters!
Part 1: The Haunted Theatre of Van Meter
Our intrepid detectives go apple picking at the Van Meter, IA town festival. But before settling down to the brand-new dinner theater’s inaugural production of “Terror-soar! Attack of the Van Meter Visitor,” the play is canceled because the play’s titular monster has returned to wreak havoc. Can the Zoinks Agency get to the bottom of this mystery?
Part 2: Mine Ya Business
The new Fool’s Gold Hotel can’t keep any guests because the ghost of a miner is roaming the halls of the old mine-turned-tourist resort. Can the Zoinks Agency get to the bottom of this mystery?
If you like: spooky stories, character voices, live sound effects, catchphrases
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 5 PM and a Showcase at 5:30 PM.
K-3rd grade/$90/July 29-Aug. 2; 9 AM to 4 PM
It has long been known that dragons in Burrowick, GDYT’s “Land of Make Believe,” are the same type of creature we call “cats.”
This camp is for all the cat lovers who want to imagine that their cats are really dragons.
What you’ll do: We’ll play a fantastic introductory roleplaying game called Magical Kitties Save the Day and use it to start creating stories about the Burrowick dragons and their humans. By the end of the week, we’ll have transformed our classroom into a dragon hideaway and used facepaint to transform ourselves into cat dragons!
If you like: Cats, of course! And also playing games, acting out stories, and transforming into a cat dragon. (You do not need to have a cat or obsessively like cats to enjoy this camp.)
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4:00. Families are invited to visit our dragon hideaway after the ceremony.
Elves, Zombies, Goblins, Oh My.
4th-12th grade/$90/July 29-Aug. 2; 9 AM to 4 PM
Stage Combat Creature Feature
What you’ll do: Spend each morning learning the essentials of stage combat from our Society of American Fight Directors-certified teacher, J. Rehearse a short choreographed encounter, then spend the afternoon learning different stage and special effect makeup techniques to transform yourself into all sorts of creatures: elves, zombies, goblins, and more. At the end of each day, film your encounter!
If you like: telling the story through movement, acting for the camera, and special effect makeup
This camp will have a Shout Out Ceremony at 4:30 PM. The Showcase will be a video montage published on the George Daily Community Television YouTube page.
Are you a thinker, a maker, a performer, a leader, or a little bit of everything? At the George Daily Youth Theatre, be who you need to be. Show it with your very own official GDYT-shirt!
$15 per shirt, with all proceeds going to our Youth Theatre Education Drive.
19% of our 2021 summer campers attended with the help of a theatre scholarship. The funds raised in our Education Drive make it possible for students with demonstrated need to attend camp for just $10.
Summer through the years!
Check out all of our online and in-person adventures on our YouTube Channel, George Daily Community Television. Catch the latest episode of our children’s television show, Journey On!, or watch our spinoff miniseries, Journey On in the Dark.
Scholarships and Discounts:
We are committed to keeping our programs accessible to anyone who would like to participate. We encourage families to make use of the discounts and financial aid available.
Registration fees should never be a barrier to attending camp, and options should always be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the Education Director. Use the form below to contact Andy McGuire with questions or to request scholarship funds for your student.