Camp Spartan finishes on a high note

Simon Ducatel Feb 21, 2023 3:00 PM
WELCOME TO CAMP SPARTAN – Gerald Ingeveld, who played a secondary part as a parent as well as a lead role as Camp Spartan’s boss, introduces to the rustic, barebones, lakeside summer getaway a fresh batch of small and big kids – not all of whom were particularly thrilled to be stuck for a week in a remote location without access to WiFi. The cast and crew of B.S. Productions’ original Broadway-style, family-friendly musical about self-determination performed their debut on Friday, Feb. 10 before a sellout crowd at the Sundre Arts Development Centre, with the final shows wrapping up this weekend. Courtesy of B.S. Productions▲
WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS – Despite perceived but largely imagined differences that led to albeit entertaining conflict throughout much of the musical, Courtney, a wannabe popular girl who was played by Violette Saunders, left, and Grunge, a struggling adolescent that’s been in and out of juvie and feels unwanted and unloved who was played by Lily Gee, eventually bonded to become friends after discovering they had more in common than they initially realized. Courtesy of B.S. Productions▲
SALES PITCH – Gerald Ingeveld, left, who played a lead role as Camp Spartan’s boss as well as a secondary bit as a parent, found himself tempted by a corporate offer to buy out his rustic, barebones, lakeside summer getaway, pitched in a catchy song-and-tune form by Garrett Janz, who in this scene played a slick salesman with an offer that was hard to refuse. Courtesy of B.S. Productions▲

SUNDRE – Sellout crowds enthusiastically attended the first and last performances of a locally created, fun-for-the-whole-family Broadway-style musical about growth and self-determination.

The Sundre Arts Development Centre reached the show’s capacity of 150 on Friday, Feb. 10 for the first time the cast and crew of B.S. Productions’ Camp Spartan took to the stage, and then again for another evening performance the following night as well as a matinée on Sunday, Feb. 12.

“All our first three performances were at capacity, which we’ve set at 150 for this production,” said Jamie Syer, who alongside his creative partner in crime Brian Bailey co-founded B.S. Productions.

According to the Sundre & District Allied Arts Society, a non-profit group of volunteers that runs the centre, the facility's approved occupancy load under a table-and-chair arrangement is for 130 people, or as many as 180 with assembly-style seating. 

“We wanted the seating to be more spacious than usual,” Syer said.

While Camp Spartan certainly was not the theatre group’s first musical performance, the heart-warming tale nevertheless represented a new milestone as Bailey and Syer’s inaugural production of a play inspired by their own personal experiences that was collaboratively composed and written from scratch. 

The final two performances were staged over the Family Day long weekend, with a sold out show on Friday, Feb. 17 and the finale held Saturday, Feb. 18.

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