{"id":202616,"date":"2024-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=202616"},"modified":"2024-06-18T06:10:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T06:10:46","slug":"camp-zama-community-theater-group-aims-to-entertain-with-willy-wonka-jr-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=202616","title":{"rendered":"Camp Zama community theater group aims to entertain with \u2018Willy Wonka Jr.\u2019 musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Brook Colgan, as the titular character in the MWR Theatre Group\u2019s upcoming production of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical, rehearses June 17 at the Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama, Japan. Colgan also serves as producer of the musical.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The cast and crew of a community theater group here have worked to build, both figuratively and literally, the \u201cworld of pure imagination\u201d they will bring to the stage in their \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical.<\/p>\n

The last few weeks have seen the MWR Theatre Group putting the finishing touches on the set, props and costumes, and of course getting their lines and choreography down for three performances of the show June 20, 21 and 22 at the Community Recreation Center here.<\/p>\n

Auditions for the musical were held in April. Nearly 40 roles were ultimately cast, all of them community members ranging in age from 7 to adult. Director Cheyenne Reynosa said the cast and crew are all talented and passionate about putting on a great show for their audience.<\/p>\n

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\n The cast of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical rehearse June 11 at the Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama, Japan, in preparation for three performances of the show scheduled this week.
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\u201c[This musical] showcases a level of joy, life and laughter that many Soldiers and their children do not get to experience,\u201d Reynosa said. \u201c[The theater group] gives those military children who constantly have to move [the chance] to leave a mark on their community and gives the adults and the Soldiers an opportunity to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sgt. Rafael Sanchez, assigned to the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, is a relative newcomer to the world of theater. He was cast as Grandpa Joe, a major role, but he also helped construct the set. The rehearsal schedule \u2014 up to three times per week over a little more than two months \u2014 has been demanding, he said, but the entire cast and crew have been dedicated and supportive of each other, making the process much easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teamwork has been great,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cIt\u2019s been great to see how committed the young actors are and how patient the production team has been with actors like me who don\u2019t have as much experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n From left, Kylie Spradling and Jordan Villanueva, cast members in the MWR Theatre Group\u2019s production of \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.,\u201d rehearse June 11 at the Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama, Japan, in preparation for three performances of the show scheduled this week.
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Sanchez is new to Japan and said he was looking for ways to get involved in his community here. Being part of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d cast has allowed him to do just that, he said, and made his transition to a new duty station much easier.<\/p>\n

Also part of the crew are several Soldier volunteers who move set pieces and props on and offstage between scenes. Their help with the production has been instrumental in making rehearsals and other preparations go smoothly, Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are super grateful for all of the help from the Soldiers,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cThey want to do something positive for the community with the extra time they have on their hands. Their help made a huge difference and enabled the actors to focus on learning their songs and lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n The cast of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical rehearse June 17 at the Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama, Japan, in preparation for three performances of the show scheduled this week.
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Sanchez said he hopes audiences will be entertained when they see the show, but he also hopes the community appreciates the time and effort the cast and crew put into staging the production.<\/p>\n

Reynosa agreed, saying the musical will be entertaining for all ages.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy expectation is greatness, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever too high to value,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Performances of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical will be June 21 at 5 p.m., June 22 at 3 p.m., and June 23 at 3 p.m., all at Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brook Colgan, as the titular character in the MWR Theatre Group\u2019s upcoming production of the \u201cWilly Wonka Jr.\u201d musical, rehearses June 17 at the Community Recreation Center on Camp Zama, Japan. Colgan also serves as producer of the musical. (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo) VIEW ORIGINAL CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The cast and crew of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202618,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202616"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202623,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202616\/revisions\/202623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/202618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}