Put a Nose on!

Tuesday, June 24^th, 2025

RAINBOW THEATER circa 8:30pm—The air is alive with the tasteful distortion of an eerie indie dance tune. Three fully costumed clowning instructors have taken the stage to execute their intricate bumbling. An audience of 200 fills the outdoor theater, laughing and cheering in response to the comedic display. Camp founder Wavy Gravy has joined us this evening to emcee tonight’s show, Teacher Talent Night. He sits far stage left in a director’s chair, his signature rainbow microphone in hand. “Give it up for the clowns!” he exclaims in his gravelly tenor as the performers take their final bows.

The Rainbow Theater is an impressive feature for a camp of this size. It is outfitted with professional lights and sound which are operated from a tech booth in the middle of the seating area. The stage itself is framed by two massive oaks and is adorned with a large metal rainbow that spans most of the stage’s width. A hidden staircase allows performers to ascend the rainbow for elevated antics.

“We finally have a new lighting truss!” explained Resident Lighting Designer Lexi Takaki in a recent interview. “We named it Sylvia Trussa Stanlina.”

“Stanlina” is a nod to the late, great Stan Goldstein, longtime Camp Winnarainbow Tech Lead.

“We also got new LED lights with brand new colors,” continued Lexi. “That means that there will be new colors that have never been seen before on the Camp Winnarainbow stage, and possibly in the whole world!”

“Color has returned to the Rainbow,” added Tech Lead Monique Calfe-Smith. “In the lead-up to Session A we have been untangling many wires and plugging them in. We also have two new wireless microphones which open up all sorts of theatrical possibilities. It’s like the part in Pinocchio where he loses his strings, but not the part where he turns into a donkey.”

As the show presses on, the fading light of day turns the rich green canopy into a splotchy mass of black, causing the new light array to appear more vivid. In the tech booth Lexi adjusts rows of sliders on the lighting console while Monique cues up music on the soundboard.

Earlier today campers had their first opportunity to take the many classes which Camp offers. I spent some time in the afternoon to hear how their studies are going.

“I went to art class to do collaging,” reported Dottie, 14, Rainbow Tipi. “It was fun; my friends were there. I used people from magazines. So far it’s looking goofy, probably because I have goofiness in my soul. I would recommend art to any camper who is looking for a chill time and cool music. It’s definitely chiller that the average Camp vibe. 8 out of 10.”

“It was a small class so we got lots of attention from the teachers,” said Tessa, 13, Rainbow Tipi who took the ‘M Sound Lab’ music production class, a brand-new offering for Winnarainbow this summer. “We learned how to use things like Garageband and mics and keyboards. I’ve tried doing that stuff before, but having experts there to explain everything made a big difference. Alex and Amanda were amazing.”

“I practiced being expressive and emotive,” said Ivy, 14, Rainbow Tipi, of drama class. “We did a lot of games like ‘Splat’ and ‘Captain’s Coming’, which is like an advanced Simon Says. I do a lot of theater outside of Camp, but I can say this was very fun. My advice to young actors is to just have fun, and that’s exactly what we had today. 8 out of 10.”

“Silks was fun because we got to go upside-down,” said Lewis, 11, Flame Tipi. “It’s different from rope because it’s fabric, it has more slack, and you can wrap it around your foot to help you climb. It gives you adrenaline, similar to jumping from a six-foot diving board into a pool. 7 out of 10.”

“It’s like riding a bike with no handles,” said Jolene, 12, Maroon Tipi, of unicycle class. “I was nervous about falling down and breaking a bone but no one else fell down and broke a bone so I guess that comforts me. It’s hard at first but you just have to keep on trying.”

“Clowning class is great because you get to play around in character and wear a nose,” said Rory, 9, Orange Tipi. “You’re not supposed to talk when you’re a clown, and that was hard. I liked the exercise where we pretended a part of our body was attached to a rope and was getting pulled around. My new motto is, ‘Put on the nose and have some fun!’”

“M Sound-Lab went really well,” said Music Production Instructor Alex Nee. “We took campers into a cyber world of musical inspiration! Some kids gravitated towards a kind of funk beat, while some others started making plans to start a podcast. Another camper was inspired to make an original album, but she wants to copywrite the lyrics before she lays down any vocals. My hope is that we can channel all of this energy into a cohesive project by the end of the session.”

Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor