Reprinted with permission from the NY Times

Tonight, Camp Simcha performed its very own theatrical production, S. T. Rella. The show was a beautiful composition of drama, dance, and song. Our very own Duvi Becker, who started writing the show when there was still snow falling in Camp Simcha, directed the production.

The show follows S.T Klein-Kaufman (Eli Lipschitz), our busy camp office manager, as she gets freed from her office by mistakenly drinking a “coffee” that was left on her desk. Initially, she is ecstatic that she can finally get out of her stressful cubicle and leave camp. But as the show progresses, she meets various people who convince her that Camp Simcha is the best place on Earth.

The show featured many different types of dance styles, including: break dancing, free-style, tricotee, bergamask. In one of the first scenes, camper Luke W. sung A Whole New World while sitting on a carpet that was suspended in the air. For the break dancing scene, campers and staff joined together to create an unforgettable dance routine to the song Party Rock Anthem. The show also featured a beautifully choreographed dance to the song Seize the Day (Newsies).

The scenery and costumes were surreal, and helped complement the show’s song and dance. In one scene, S.T meets some realistic cannibals in the forest. She manages to escape as they all break into dance to the song “Higher.” The dance received a standing ovation and merited an encore performance. The play closed with an unforgettable rendition of All Star by campers Bennet, Danny, and Charlie. That performance merited an encore as well.

The play had many original scores, including “Simchonian Rhapsody” and “A Small Piece of Simcha.” They were all recorded in our brand new, on campus, recording studio. (Listen Here)

A musical like S.T. Rella makes us proud to be part of Camp Simcha. The super-talented staff here put on a play unlike any other being performed in myriad camps across the Catskills. The uniqueness of Duvi Becker’s vision puts his productions in a league of their own. Concepts and ideas that began as a seed in Duvi’s head, find their way into reality and onto a stage via the cast that we saw perform tonight. However, it is Duvi’s tenacity and unflagging enthusiasm that makes it happen. Not just makes it happen, but happen in such a way as to garner four standing ovations and three calls for encores from an audience that is not easily impressed. But the true litmus test was the ear-to-ear smiles sported by every single person seated in the Social Hall.

A play is just…well…a play. A musical, however, is a way to reach the audience’s emotions through song and dance, a medium that has proven itself to be among the most effective in shaping moods. Spirits lift, dark clouds clear, and the world is simply a better place after watching a musical performed by a passionate, dedicated crew like the one we witnessed. And what makes it all the more anomalous is the setting of this presentation. A natural by-product of Camp Simcha’s one-of-a-kind program is the togetherness and camaraderie that it engenders. That is something that we saw mirrored in the cast’s attitude. Rather than as a task, they viewed this work as a fun-filled challenge to be taken on with friends, among friends. Even more than the subject content, the manner in which S.T. Rella was executed makes us feel privileged to be a part of the world that is Camp Simcha.

Whooah!!! What a magical day!

Today, Camp Simcha had double the amount of fun as our program directors juggled both an escape to Disney World, as well as Deal Day. For those who don’t know, Deal Day is a DisneyWorld worthy experience in which members of the Deal community come down to camp and shower our campers with tons of free gifts and activities.

After finishing their tasty lunch, the Dealers joined us in the center of the dining room where we showed them some Lunch EPICification. After observing just a few moments of our upROAR, they were thoroughly convinced that they are supporting the best possible cause. Many of them couldn’t resist the energy and opted to join in. We put on quite an intense show for our guests, with campers and staff bouncing, screaming, singing, and dancing like there was no tomorrow. Of course our in-house band helped EPICify the environment by playing the most pumping Camp Simcha Special like music possible.

From lunch, we went to four awesome Deal-assisted activities. At some point in the afternoon, every camper did one of the following amazing things. The first was Buzz Lightyear Laser Tag. One of our wonderful Deal volunteers came down, and outfitted the gym with many obstacles. Every camper was then put on a team, given a color (orange or green) and a gun, and let loose to have an awesome time. The second activity was hat making. Our campers had a great time as they chose a hat, and then decorated it with graffiti, buttons, or whatever met their fancy. There were some pretty funky fedoras and caps around camp. The third activity was karaoke.

The fourth activity was not like anything I’ve ever witnessed. Our campers were given a duffel bag, and were let loose in a room full of gifts. They were able to take whatever they (and their counselor…and their rotator…and whoever else they commissioned) could carry out. There were backpacks, sandals, t-shirts, shorts, sweatpants, pillows, stuffed animals, and various electronics. The campers came out looking like they’ve won the lottery.

After supper, we headed to this summer’s musical, S.T Rella. Our campers felt like they were at a Broadway show. They walked in on a red carpet, and we’re served Hors d’oeuvres by waiters clad in tuxes. Read more about the amazing musical in the official review coming soon to this blog.

And to cap off this magical day, we all headed to the baseball field wear we had front row seats to an amazing fireworks display. With whizzing, flashing, and crackling above us, we linked arms and sung in the true Camp Simcha spirit.

What a day!

Today was one big EPICsplosion of color. Camp Simcha escaped to the Crayola Factory, and boy did we paint the town! Breakfast was a potpourri of every shade and hue, as staff and campers dressed up in the most vibrant colors. The Great Wall of Graffiti quickly lived up to its name as we livened it up with tons of Crayola crayons and markers. Towards the end of lunch, we all gathered in the middle of the dining room where we heard a rockin’ concert from our own personal band: The American Revolution. And although we were a bit lazy after our awesome trip yesterday, our campers still danced, climbed on staff members’ shoulders, and screamed in an Epic Eleven rendition of uproar.

From there, our awesome campers went to four consecutive action-packed activities. Coby decided to visit the candle workshop where he made his own personal candle (candle=wax=crayon=Crayola=> how cool is that?). He created a Pumpkin Orange dye for the top of his candle, a Pansy Purple middle, and a Baby Blue bottom. In another workshop, some lucky campers got to “paint” and decorate a cake…and then eat their artwork of course!

The baseball field was the site of smearing and sloshing gallons of (hopefully) washable paint onto every conceivable surface; just ask Jonah. It originally started off as an Epic Twister game, in which the board were plates full of paint. Pretty soon, however, everyone turned to the super fun activity of body painting and “embodying” Crayola. And if you didn’t get involved yourself, plenty of staff members were around to give bear hugs in order to spread the wealth.

Throughout the day, there were two awesome special activities that every division had a chance to partake in. The first was group Dance Dance Revolution. A professional DJ group came down to camp and set up over 30 dance mats in the gym. We then had a blast as we watched the moves scroll up on the huge screen and competed for the highest score. It was a really great workout for us as we twisted and contoured into very interesting shapes. The levels progressed, and the moves got faster, but our great campers managed to keep up. It was very apparent that everyone was having a mighty fine time. The other special activity was scuba diving in the pool. We were all fitted with body skins, flippers, oxygen tanks, and face masks, and went below water. We were able to stay underwater for as long as we wanted as we engaged in some very fun activities. We searched for small things that were thrown in by the supervisor, and played many games including Shark and Minnow.

To start off the night, our campers squared off in a live rendition of family feud. In the process we learned that the four most custom ordered thing in camp are fries, onion rings, pizza, and pizza rolls; Dembi always wears his frog hat, and dirty socks (?); and that the best workshop in camp is ductagami. For our post night-activity activity, our divisions split up and did something meaningful.

Our youngest division, The Twisters, headed to the porch of the dining room. It was there that they created tie-die shirts. When they finished their artwork, they huddled around a fire, sung songs, and roasted smores. Our next division, The Bouncers, headed outside where they had Epic astronomy and stargazing on the hill. And our oldest, division headed out to the field where they sat around a bonfire and shared their experience in the fight against illness.

WOW….where do I begin?!?

This morning, you were able to feel the excitement in the air. Our amazing staff worked seamlessly to assemble our day’s fare. By 8am, 2400 water bottles, 353 towels, 500+ deli sandwiches, among many other things, were carefully arranged by the staging area. After orderly packing and loading the busses, we were off on our adventure.

We made sure that our travel time didn’t go to waste. Our dance captains, Scott and Moshe, took the time out to make a Liberty dance tutorial video for us. We watched it a few times, and perfected any moves that we hadn’t already mastered. Before we knew it, we were at the Liberty ferry port.

Our campers got off the bus with exuberance, and they were greeted by 100 fresh piping-hot pies of pizza. You should have seen the look of bewilderment on the security guards, as we went through with the pies, the rest of our lunch, and all our musical instruments! When we were all checked onto the ferry, we unleashed our Simcha spirit. We chanted, sung camp songs, danced around the deck, and had a mighty fine time. The other passengers couldn’t resist our energy, and opted to join in. And people on other boats, and on the shore, all turned to witness our Simcha Epicness. After a quick stop on Ellis Island to drop off our spectators, we arrived at our destination, Liberty Island.

Camp Simcha stormed the island with gusto. We quickly made our way over to the lawn right in front of the statue and assembled in orderly rows. Dembi then gave us a short pep talk. He explained that Lady Liberty is the embodiment of freedom for the world. Her glowing torch burns even through the toughest of times. He went on to explain that today, Camp Simcha will show the world what true freedom is. Our torches and our camp are the true beacons in the darkness. He went on to fittingly name our song “Lighting up the Night – Simcha at Liberty.”

By the time he finished prepping us, a professional sound system had been set up, and a large crowd had begun to form. With the speakers blaring, Camp Simcha premiered Light up the Darkness for all our spectators. For our first rendition of the dance, we did the dance without our torches. You can see the smiles spreading across our campers faces as they performed the dance that they had worked so hard to master. By the time we finished our first rendition, almost every person on the island had gathered in front of the lawn to see the show. Dembi led us right into an Epic rendition of upROAR as we stomped, danced, screamed, sung, and showed the world what Camp Simcha is all about. With cameras flashing, and the crowds cheering us on, we performed Light up the Darkness one more time. This time, however, we used our Simcha torches! The effect of 350 Simchonians raising their torches up high, and waving them in unison, was unbelievable. And most importantly, the look of empowerment on our campers faces after showing the world what true freedom is, was a sight to behold.

After signing a few autographs for our fans, we headed to the side off the statue to eat lunch. Finally able to catch our breaths for a moment, we sat under the shade of the trees, munched on our pizzas and sides, and enjoyed the music of our live band. And then we received our next EPIC surprise. Yehuda Green showed up for a live concert! After recovering from the shock, we went wild. Yehuda wowed us with his classics and shared his usual enthusiasm with us. We responded with our usual insane amount of energy. We sang, danced, jumped, and stomped; there was fun for staff and campers alike. After observing just a few moments of our concert, many of our spectators opted to join in on the fun, and sing and dance with our awesome campers. They seemed to be having just a bit more fun than they’ve had in a while! Our campers also had a chance to ascend the statue at a scheduled slot during the concert.

After we were all danced out, we headed back to the ferry. However, our energy did not wane one bit. While waiting at the port, we singled out all the park employees that were there, and cheered them on by name. We then raised the roof with our psyching chants and cheers. Most of the people that were there said that we were the most energetic, impassioned, and inspiring group they’ve ever seen.

We finally made it back to the buses, and after a snack, headed to our next destination. We arrived at CoCo Key Indoor Water Park a short while later, rejuvenated and psyched for part two of our adventure. The park sure didn’t let us down. We had a blast on the Parrot’s Perch: an aquatic jungle gym which included slides, water cannons and 300 gallons of bucket dumping fun. We turned slam dunks, into splash dunks at the Coral Cove. And when we needed to relax, we waddled down nearly 300 ft of the resort’s lazy river.

It was quite a unanimous consensus on the ride back that today was amazing. Our campers came back with memories to last the year. The Lighting up the Night music video is below

Today’s escape was.. well.. magical! The dining room was decked out like Hogwart’s Great Hall, complete with polyjuice potions and broomsticks. Round glasses, with scotch tape in the middle, abounded. Breakfast consisted of pumpkin juice, porridge, rolls, orange juice, scrambled eggs, toast, buttered toast with jam, and corn flakes (no I didn’t check the book, there’s Google for that). And despite the accursed weather, the day turned out just splendid.

After a scrumptious breakfast, us wizards headed to a camp wide Harry Potter character search. Different staff members dressed up as various characters from the books, hid throughout camp, and campers ran around camp collecting their signatures. They found a dementor roaming in the forrest, Moaning Myrtle in the girls bathroom, and Hermoine on the porch of the candle shop. Every camper that collected all the signatures got a Cat in the Hat T-shirt.

After another rendition EPIC rendition of upROAR by lunch, we headed out for four consecutive awesome activities. Deron headed to the leather shop to create a belt. He first selected the leather that was the appropriate thickness and then cut a strip the proper size. He then proceeded to dye it the color that he wanted, and after it dried, he polished and shined it. He finished off his belt by punching holes and adding a belt buckle. A camper that was wearing a belt informed me that he had made the belt three years ago in the leather shop, and it was still in perfect shape. Perhaps we should stop out-sourcing everything and make all our products right here in Glen Spey!

Yitz headed to the Ductagami workshop where he made an apron for his mommy. He selected some vibrant colors and then carefully laid them out to create a sheet. He then added a loop for the neck and waist. He now has a versatile and washable present to bring back home.

Throughout the day, different divisions had an opportunity to hone their wizarding capabilities. An expert magician had come to camp, and he spent the afternoon teaching tricks to our campers. Our campers had a great time learning card tricks, wand tricks, and rope tricks.

At supper, we had another rendition of upROAR. This time, however, we also practiced the dance for our new CS song which we will be performing in NYC tomorrow. The song was recorded right here in our newly constructed studio. Campers had a blast recoding the lyrics, and the camp as a whole had a great time practicing our dance steps. You can check out a preview here.

The day closed with another magical experience. Camp Simcha witnessed The Extreme Magic of Eric, a show like no other. Using an unusual mix of exotic birds and other animals -along with the newest big-stage illusions, daring Houdini escapes, mind-blowing stunts, and close-up sleight of hand – this award-winning teenage magician provided incredible, memorable entertainment and loads of fun for all of us.

Tomorrow will be an amazing and liberating day. Follow us on Twitter @campsimcha for update

This morning, when our campers walked into the dining room, they were met by a CS staff, who, rather than clowning around (ouch!) were pulsating with energy. They also noticed that they weren’t in much of a dining room at all. Over night, our staff members worked to convert the dining room into an over the top circus tent. It was complete with a moving animal carousel, elephants and monkeys, and many camp caricatures. There were also concession stands scattered around, and campers were able to walk over and order cotton candy, snow cones, and hot dogs. By lunch, we had our usual upROAR complete with dancing, stamping, singing. Today, we had the lions to compete with but of course we were louder.

After lunch, we headed out to the ball field for our annual Epic Dr. Lenny Water Fight. Dr. Lenny is known to be an expert in the oncology field, but today he showed off his adept water-gun handling skills. Our campers had a blast as they had a chance to cool off and soak the medical staff in the process(only some-the rest were on call).

From there, our campers headed back to their bunks and prepared for the circus parade. Each division had to work together to create a show complete with costumes, songs, and floats. The results were Barnum-and-Bailey worthy. Our oldest division decided to all dress like elephants, cover their float in grey, and march to the song: “Do your ears hang low?” Our other divisions each did something creative including a mime theme and an animal theme. The parade finished by the social hall and then each division had to put on a circus performance for the rest of the camp. Each division had their own twist, and all the shows were very entertaining.

After the parade, we had one last afternoon activity. Mitchell and his friends headed to the woodshop to build something. Mitchell created a a wooden name plate for his front door. His friends made a launch pad for a rocket their going to launch at the end of the session. It was captivating to watch them carefully draw out their plans on paper, then saw the wood, sand it down, and put it together.

After supper, we had a chance to witness a real circus performance. The Jabali African Acrobats dazzled us with balancing feats, impressive juggling, original jump-rope techniques, and human formations. And although they looked more professional in their outfits, our camper Corey did us proud under the limbo pole, minus the leopard prints. And speaking of limbo, we would like to make it very clear that limbo is the ONLY time we lower the bar here in Camp Simcha. Everything else is E-P-I-C.

The Epic 500 has been recognized by NASCAR as the official race of 2011. With that in mind, our campers walked into the dining room for breakfast and were instead greeted by a car show! There was a racetrack, flags, lights, and even cars on spinning tables! And a lucky camper got to walk away with the keys to a new Lamborghini (donated by HotWheels).

After breakfast, in line with today’s theme, the youngest division headed to the baseball field where they did some car-washing. Now, this was no ordinary carwash. Everyone walked away sopping and covered in shaving cream! Some staff members felt they were too clean and decided to go mud sliding!

By lunch, the car show was still going on, but we added an extra intense rendition of upROAR in anticipation of the weekend. Our campers danced, climbed on staff members’ shoulders, and screamed so loud that they were able to b heard over the din of the race cars racing outside.

After lunch, we headed to the social hall for our special activity. Rodderick Russell, the sword-eater from last night, had stayed overnight in camp, and was giving his second half of his performance today. This morning he tweeted: “Getting ready for the last & what I anticipate will be the most challenging (& rewarding) show of the tour!” He went on to give an epic hypnotist show. He convinced some lucky contestants that they were rock stars, very smelly, and that they had forgotten the number 6. It was a very entertaining show to watch. After the show, Rodderick tweeted: “I was correct – what a show!!! I’m blown away by the energy and zest for life!!! *I* am inspired! And it was definitely rewarding! Wow!” Indeed, that’s what we do best here. Thank you.

It’s Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend

Friday, Friday

Gettin’ down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin’ forward to the weekend

Epic Camp Simcha Weekend HERE WE COME!

Forsooth! Today hath been replete with a good many extraordinary activities. After breakfast, our oldest division headed out to a shooting range to practice their shot. In the medieval times, they shot bows and arrows. We’re a bit more advanced, and our campers got to shoot real rifles including an Ak-47 and a M4. Before heading out, each camper created something which to him represented illness. He then used that as a target on the range and realized that it’s in his power to completely take control of illness.

By lunch, we entered the dining room which was converted into a medieval castle. It was replete with stone walls, a set banquet table, a throne, and life sized model horses guarding the gates. And thou knoweth that we don’t stop singing, dancing, jumping, screaming, roaring, shrilling, bouncing, hopping, or leaping, just because we have a bit of free time. Indeed, during lunch, we gathered in the middle of the room to do the aforementioned. And after lunch, to give thee a nice addition to the usual schedule, we went to the fields to play a manor vs. manor game of capture the flag. Our knights worked vigilantly to defend their respective flags while the cavalier tried going on an offensive to capture the other team’s prized possession.

After the game, Or N. and Or F. headed to the arts and crafts room. It was there that they created their name out of wooden blocks and carefully painted it in their native flag colors. They planned on putting the name on top of their fully stocked stable back at the manor. Gal K. decided to make some chickens out of dixie cups and paper to add to his coup. Mikey took charge of defending the castle, and headed to the pottery workshop. He rolled out a chunk of clay to his desired thickness, and then carefully cut out a sword and shield. It is now baking in the oven, and he should have it by tomorrow afternoon.

Dinner was a medieval supper outside on the lawn. It was replete with stew boiling in a cauldron and meat roasting over the stake.

From dinner, we headed to the social hall for a special activity. We were met by Roderick Russel, a Guiness world record holder. He dazzled us with his three-part performance consisting of mind reading, fire eating, and sword swallowing. For the first part, he wowed us as he guessed peoples’ favorite playing card, and which camper drew which picture. For his second part, he swallowed fire, breathed fire, and lit his tongue on fire. And for his finale, he swallowed a 2 foot metal knife!!! Epic.

Today’s news is brought to you by the letter E (EPIC!) and by the number 11…

We watched our band perform on PBS as we ate breakfast, and when we tuned in again during lunch, Dembi was there, decked out in his ever-present frog hat, to lead the upROAR. Our campers rocked to the songs of Stamp on the Ground, I Gotta Feelin, and Yalili. Lunch also served as a meet-and-greet for Elmo, Grover, and Grover, who dispensed autographs to any camper who asked.

By lunch, we heard a rumor that cookie monster was famished. We therefore headed to the canteen for our Monster Cookie Baking Contest. Our campers got to create a cookie dough, and then decorate it with marshmallows, mike-and-ikes, twizzlers, and other sweet accessories. Moshe and Yechezkal started off by rolling out their dough; they then added a blue glaze, some green jelly beans for eyes, and red marshmallows for a mouth. Ofek probably thought he was suposed to decorate his own face, and he ended up looking like a big marshmallow head. They were then judged for the best cookie and then popped them in the oven. They got to enjoy their delicious treats just an hour later.

Max heard that before they make Sesame Street puppets, they first design them in wax models. He therefore headed to the wax and candle workshop. He started by making three wax molds of his hand – both right and left – in different stances. When he was satisfied with his gorgeous models (Tiffany has contacted him about using them to display their rings), he started again and made a nice multi-color candle for his mommy.

After supper, Camp Simcha was thrilled to welcome Steve Max. Every year, Steve comes and plays the craziest largest game of Simon Says. His tricky strategies leave even the brightest people confused. Counselors and campers were head to head in an intense battle. The winner of the battle got to go head to head against his son, who is a Simon Sez champion. Of course, our Camp Simcha representative was crowned champion. At the end of the night everyone said goodbye to Steve…after Simon told us to,.