About
Twin Cities Theater Camp is a 5-week intensive theater day camp where campers take part in movement and dance, acting class, music class, art class, afternoon rehearsals, and massed rehearsals. Each day follows a set schedule that includes a Morning Welcome, classes in movement and dance, acting, music, and art, a lunch break, and then afternoon and massed rehearsals that build toward a full-length musical production.
• Ages: 7–14 years old
• Schedule: 5-week intensive theater day camp each summer
Twin Cities Theater Camp is described as a unique summer theater institute where children learn from professionals in all areas of the theater arts and perform in a full length musical production, with three performances that often incorporate student-created content. The program is designed so that the 7–14 age range supports mentoring between older, more experienced children and younger children who are new to theater and the TCTC experience. The staff states that it values making theater education available to all, and scholarship funds are available to students who cannot afford the program tuition, supported in part by donations that help provide these scholarships. The organization states that it works hard to make sure the camp can be affordable to any child who wants to participate, and parent volunteers help the shows run smoothly while staff focuses on the show and the students.
Twin Cities Theater Camp has highly skilled performing-arts professionals on staff with decades of combined experience teaching theater to children, including award-winning actors, directors, and teachers from the Twin Cities. The leadership team includes Director of Acting John Catron; Artistic Director Ellen Fenster; Dance Instructor and Choreographer LaTia Childers; Assistant Director and Acting Coach Eliza Rasheed; Production Stage Manager Gianna Haseman; Art Instructor Lisa Arnold; Assistant Director, Dialect Coach, and Acting Coach Eric Sharp; and former Music Director Tim Kraack. The camp has a tradition of musical excellence, teaching healthy and expressive singing, and includes a summer-long art project with artist-in-residence Lisa Arnold that is displayed for the audience before and after performances at the end of camp. Students learn dance fundamentals and advanced skills with instructor LaTia Childers, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Minnesota, studied American Sign Language, and was a member of the Minnesota Dance Ensemble. Stage manager Gianna Haseman teaches backstage management and is a professional stage manager with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts and Sociology from the University of Minnesota and experience at multiple Twin Cities theaters. Visual artist Lisa Arnold specializes in mosaic, works across Minnesota with support from grants including the Minnesota State Arts Board, and has installations in libraries and other sites around the state. Actor and director John Catron is active in the Twin Cities, is a company member with Pillsbury House Theater, has stage credits at Park Square Theatre, The Illusion Theater, Theatre Mu, The Guthrie, and others, and directs shows and designs and builds sets for TCTC. Artistic Director Ellen Fenster is a professional theater director and teacher in Minneapolis who has worked with Illusion Theater, Pillsbury House Theater, Gremlin Theater, The Guthrie, Park Square Theater, and South High School. Assistant Director and Acting Coach Eliza Rasheed is the middle school theater teacher at Global Arts Plus in St. Paul, was a finalist for 2023 Teacher of the Year, and is a freelance performer and director in the Twin Cities. Assistant Director and Dialect Coach Eric Sharp is a professional actor who has performed at Theater Mu, Guthrie Theater, Alliance Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and others, with regional and international performances in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Toronto, and Edinburgh, and once co-produced and performed a play in a full-size swimming pool. Former Music Director Tim Kraack is a musician and teacher from St. Paul who teaches piano, songwriting, and voice privately and at St. Joseph's School of Music, directs choirs at Saint Paul Academy, and writes and performs music in a variety of genres.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. A review from Minnesota Playlist notes that campers “understood the stakes of the show,” “had learned a lot over five weeks,” and “most important: They had fun.” Camper comments include statements such as “I like camp because it feels great,” “Camp is about meeting old friends and making new ones,” “That moment when I feel so happy and welcome here,” “Camp is about being part of an awesome community,” “Performing as a community and as a family,” “Making new traditions,” “You can become someone else,” and “I just love it here.”
Last updated February 23, 2026.
• Ages: 7–14 years old
• Schedule: 5-week intensive theater day camp each summer
Twin Cities Theater Camp is described as a unique summer theater institute where children learn from professionals in all areas of the theater arts and perform in a full length musical production, with three performances that often incorporate student-created content. The program is designed so that the 7–14 age range supports mentoring between older, more experienced children and younger children who are new to theater and the TCTC experience. The staff states that it values making theater education available to all, and scholarship funds are available to students who cannot afford the program tuition, supported in part by donations that help provide these scholarships. The organization states that it works hard to make sure the camp can be affordable to any child who wants to participate, and parent volunteers help the shows run smoothly while staff focuses on the show and the students.
Twin Cities Theater Camp has highly skilled performing-arts professionals on staff with decades of combined experience teaching theater to children, including award-winning actors, directors, and teachers from the Twin Cities. The leadership team includes Director of Acting John Catron; Artistic Director Ellen Fenster; Dance Instructor and Choreographer LaTia Childers; Assistant Director and Acting Coach Eliza Rasheed; Production Stage Manager Gianna Haseman; Art Instructor Lisa Arnold; Assistant Director, Dialect Coach, and Acting Coach Eric Sharp; and former Music Director Tim Kraack. The camp has a tradition of musical excellence, teaching healthy and expressive singing, and includes a summer-long art project with artist-in-residence Lisa Arnold that is displayed for the audience before and after performances at the end of camp. Students learn dance fundamentals and advanced skills with instructor LaTia Childers, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Minnesota, studied American Sign Language, and was a member of the Minnesota Dance Ensemble. Stage manager Gianna Haseman teaches backstage management and is a professional stage manager with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts and Sociology from the University of Minnesota and experience at multiple Twin Cities theaters. Visual artist Lisa Arnold specializes in mosaic, works across Minnesota with support from grants including the Minnesota State Arts Board, and has installations in libraries and other sites around the state. Actor and director John Catron is active in the Twin Cities, is a company member with Pillsbury House Theater, has stage credits at Park Square Theatre, The Illusion Theater, Theatre Mu, The Guthrie, and others, and directs shows and designs and builds sets for TCTC. Artistic Director Ellen Fenster is a professional theater director and teacher in Minneapolis who has worked with Illusion Theater, Pillsbury House Theater, Gremlin Theater, The Guthrie, Park Square Theater, and South High School. Assistant Director and Acting Coach Eliza Rasheed is the middle school theater teacher at Global Arts Plus in St. Paul, was a finalist for 2023 Teacher of the Year, and is a freelance performer and director in the Twin Cities. Assistant Director and Dialect Coach Eric Sharp is a professional actor who has performed at Theater Mu, Guthrie Theater, Alliance Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and others, with regional and international performances in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Toronto, and Edinburgh, and once co-produced and performed a play in a full-size swimming pool. Former Music Director Tim Kraack is a musician and teacher from St. Paul who teaches piano, songwriting, and voice privately and at St. Joseph's School of Music, directs choirs at Saint Paul Academy, and writes and performs music in a variety of genres.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. A review from Minnesota Playlist notes that campers “understood the stakes of the show,” “had learned a lot over five weeks,” and “most important: They had fun.” Camper comments include statements such as “I like camp because it feels great,” “Camp is about meeting old friends and making new ones,” “That moment when I feel so happy and welcome here,” “Camp is about being part of an awesome community,” “Performing as a community and as a family,” “Making new traditions,” “You can become someone else,” and “I just love it here.”
Last updated February 23, 2026.
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