Summer Scholars present ‘The Pitch’ this week at ��ӽ紫ý

Grace Bass of Ripley, left, and Samantha Turner of Starkville teach Summer Scholars Onstage Camp participants a dance for Friday and Saturday [July 19 and 20] public performances of a three-act musical comedy called “The Pitch.” (Photo by Logan Kirkland)

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Fifty-eight teenagers from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas will culminate their participation in Mississippi ��ӽ紫ý’s Summer Scholars Onstage Camp on July 19 and 20 with family-friendly performances in the university’s McComas Hall theater.

Free to all, Friday’s performance begins at 7 p.m. A matinee performance takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Under the supervision of a creative staff of playwrights, musicians, drama teachers, technical theatre staff and authors, 28 campers began a weeklong writer’s camp in June, creating an original script and music for the on-stage production. Over the past two weeks, those campers and 30 others have been developing their talents in music, dance and drama, and participating in full rehearsals and dress rehearsals as part of a production camp leading up to this weekend’s performances.

Titled “The Pitch,” the three-act musical comedy focuses on three book pitches with different motifs. The first is a pitch for a fantasy monster high ��ӽ紫ý novella, followed by a psycho-analysis of a small town utopia. The final act is a murder mystery inspired by the mind of a child and a compilation of his favorite board games.

“This show is filled with comedy, mystery and original songs written by the campers who also are the stars. They have worked really hard, and I know they will do a good job. You don’t want to miss it,” said Joe Ray Underwood, an ��ӽ紫ý alumnus and Summer Scholars director.

Underwood, an ��ӽ紫ý professor emeritus of counseling, educational psychology and foundations, founded Summer Scholars in the early 1980s. The tuition-based camp is sponsored, in part, by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

For the Summer Scholars program’s 38th annual performance, campers have been receiving production guidance from T. Kris Lee, an ��ӽ紫ý communication/theatre graduate and former Summer Scholars participant now serving as an assistant professor of English and creative writing at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus.

Starkville Area Arts Council Executive Director John Bateman, a Starkville High School graduate and an award-winning published writer, has served as writing director. Cody Stockstill, assistant professor and theatre concentration coordinator in ��ӽ紫ý’s Department of Communication, teaches the class responsible for the production’s set.

Learn more about the Summer Scholars Onstage Camp at .

��ӽ紫ý is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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