TEMPLE TERRACE — No sane person would undertake to bring a Broadway production from fruition to execution in just nine days. No one except the directors of Broadway Comes to Camp, which will put on its 14th such production, Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” at Florida College’s Puckett Auditorium July 10 and 11.
The nonprofit, the brainchild of Royce Chandler, a former professor at the college, preacher and missionary, has operated at the college at 199 N. Glen Arven Ave. since 2012. For 13 summers it averaged $20,000 in ticket sales. Chandler, who ran the camp with his wife, Hope, used those proceeds to fund scholarships for young people who wished to attend the private, faith-based college.
Now the curtain has dropped on the Chandlers’ stewardship and raised on that of Florida College and Broadway Comes to Camp alums Brian and Joie Harber. The Harbers, who live in Texas with their five children, ages 6-13, have participated in the camp since its 2013 production of “Fiddler on the Roof”.
Chandler retired after last season, going out with a humorous flair.
“He announced to audiences at the end of each show last summer, he said, ‘Now that I’m turning 80, during my middle age I’ve decided to do a few other things in life’,” Brian Harber recalled with a chuckle.
The Harbers fell in love with the camp immediately and haven’t missed a summer since, even when Brian Harber came down with Lyme Disease and they left Florida for Tennessee in the hopes that a change in weather would relieve his symptoms.
“At first this seemed like a crazy idea when we first heard of it,” Joie Harber said. “But then when we attended camp, it was like, oh, we get it – everyone working together for a common goal and encouraging everyone and building their skills.”
Camp attendees agree it’s crazy to put on a production in nine days, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. They love the immersion and the intensity. They love the camaraderie and the community. They love the people. For some, it’s the highlight of their summer and something they look forward to all year.
Karalynn Kiefer, now 23, is Kate, one of the major general’s daughters. She has been involved on and off stage from the beginning. Her mother attended the college in 1989 and 1990, where Chandler was her teacher. When he founded the camp, he asked her mother to be his stage manager.
Kiefer lives in Orlando, where she works at Universal Studios. She said it’s the people that have her braving I-4 summer after summer.
“I love the people,” she said. “I don’t live around here. I live in Orlando, so I only get to see these people when it’s camp time. So I definitely look forward to that every year – the community of it and the loving people you’re around.”
This year has been a bit crazier than most. The biggest challenge by far has been the change of venue for the camp. Florida College is renovating Hutchinson Auditorium, where the camp normally hosts its performances, leaving them with the much smaller Puckett Auditorium with roughly half the seats.
But the show must go on, so they’re taking it in stride; increasing the number of shows to compensate and making the experience more interactive.
“I’m excited for this even though it is a smaller venue, a smaller stage,” Joie Harber said. “It will definitely be more intimate with the crowd and we can even play off the crowd, involve them more. So I think that’s going to be a fun dynamic for the performers and for the audience as well.
They’ll even bring the audience in on the joke.
“Like when all the pirates come out, which is the opening number, they’ll probably be some reference to, ‘This is the much inferior Fort Puckett…’” Brian Harber said. “We’re working on that right now. So we’re not shying away.”
As challenging as the performance will be for the actors, it might be even more challenging for the backstage crew, now more of a front stage crew, given that there isn’t a back stage for them to hide behind.
Will Lopez, 24, who is Chandler’s grandson and has been attending camp since it began when he was 9 years old, is the lead on the three-person crew. The challenge for them has been having to build the set at the warehouse and then move it over to Puckett at 4 a.m. the day before the performance. They cannot build it on site as they normally would.
“All of this is insane,” Lopez said with a laugh. “I’ve been building sets for 10 years and this is the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Because we can’t – normally, all this would just screw into the floor because the stage is plywood. But we can’t do that in Puckett because it’s a lecture hall and it’s a nice stage.”
He doesn’t even know if it will fit properly. He’s hoping he doesn’t have to shorten the whole thing once he gets it in there, but he’ll bring along his full tool box, just in case.
The Harbers plan to carry on the Chandler’s charitable intent for the camp, donating the proceeds back to the college’s fine arts program.
Next year, they hope to be back in their usual home. But even with all the challenges, they’re confident this year’s show will go off without a hitch.
“A benefit of (all this hard work) is that the level of production value for this show is absurd for the theater that it’s in,” Lopez said. “It’s going to look like a professional show.”
If you go
Where: Puckett Auditorium at Florida College, 119 N. Glen Arven Ave., Temple Terrace
When: Friday-Saturday, July 10-11, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: Reserved seats are $29, $25 for seniors. General admission is $18, rows I-L, first come, first served seating. Purchase online at broadwaycomestocamp.com/buy-tickets
Interested in next summer’s camp? Apply at broadwaycomestocamp.com/apply. Preference is given to previous participants.
Donate: broadwaycomestocamp.com/donate. Joie Harber said any donation of any size will help the camp continue to support families who want to attend camp as well as cover the up-front costs of their productions, such as the rights, which can run as high as $5,000, set supplies, costumes and other production materials. Because Broadway Comes to Camp is a 501(c)(3), all donations are tax deductible.