Rainbow Connections
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
COSTUME BARN circa 7:30pm—Sunbeams cut through at a nearly horizontal angle, casting stark shadows on the maze of clothing racks that comprise the Costume Barn. A dozen or so campers scurry back and forth, searching for the perfect attire for tonight’s talent show, the Tornado of Talent. Some hold dresses to their fronts to quickly gauge size while others fiddle with ties and other accessories. A number of counselors aid campers in the application of face paint and safety pins.
I encounter a quintet who have dressed as individual colors of the rainbow for a skit they prepared.
“It was Indigo who had the idea originally,” says Gisele, 10, Yellow Tipi. “At first, we weren’t gonna do it, but then at the last minute we said, ‘What the heck!’ I’m going as the color yellow because it was the last color left over, and I’m not picky like that. For me, the rainbow represents how everyone is different.”
“There were two colors left and I didn’t want to be yellow so I picked green,” says Jasper, 7, Lime Tipi. “I like green because there’s lots of stuff that’s green: trees, cars, bushes, trash cans. Our friend dressed as red isn’t in the photo because she was unicycling or something.”
“I used to like green, but now I’m in a blue phase,” says Indigo, 9, Yellow Tipi. “I just like blue because it’s a dark color. I usually like darker colors. For our skit we have the three primary colors come out first, and then the secondary colors pop out from hiding and we form a full rainbow. I thought of this idea for an act last year, right when I was driving away from camp. It’s fun to do a group project, and when I was six, my favorite thing to paint was rainbows.”
“My favorite color is pink, so I picked the closest thing I could get: purple,” says Ariana, 7, Yellow Tipi. “I like how the purple can be light like violet, or mixed with blue to make a cooler purple. Lots of times purple reminds me of flowers.”
“I like that it takes two colors to make orange,” says Jacque, 10, Gold Tipi. “It’s kind of like me because I like to do two things at once. For example, I like to make friendship bracelets while watching TV. Orange is a powerful color; it’s like the mixture of the sun and blood. I think the rainbow shows us different personalities. Red is tough, orange is tough but soft, and yellow is always smiling and laughing. Green is crazy but chillin’, blue is super chill, and purple is chill but strong.”
I make my way to the Tipi Circle where people mill about in the dramatic sunlight of early evening. Two banjo players commiserate on a fire circle bench while nearby a pair of fully costumed campers discuss their upcoming karaoke performance.
“I’m singing ‘Hot To Go’ by Chappel Roan with Eloise,” says Carly, 10, Yellow Tipi. “I just like to sing along. My favorite song in the song circles is ‘Camp Town Road’. It has a nice beat and it tells you all about Camp. I really want to see what the other people are doing for Tornado. I’m kind of scared to sing, but this is a good place to practice. I need to practice in front of a big crowd, and the people here are really nice.”
RAINBOW THEATER circa 9:30—“Why are there so many songs about rainbows,” sings a camper on stage, covering the 1979 Muppets hit “Rainbow Connection”. The audience hangs on each word, some quietly singing along with the performance. The massive lighting rig illuminates the stage to the point where they may as well be a planet in space.
“Thank you Mattias and thank you Zora in a frog hat!” hails Clowning Instructor Riley Soloner at the conclusion of the song, prompting a second round of applause. “This next act has the most intriguing name: ‘Love? No.’ What a title! It’s not my personal opinion, it’s just the name of the act,” quips Riley, dressed as emcee character Sal Dente, an homage to one of Wavy Gravy’s favorite emcee characters, Al Dente. “Please make Quill feel welcome with ‘Love? No’!”
The crowd cheers as Quill enters to share an original poem. Suddenly my view is obstructed by Performance Coordinator José Garcia.
“We need you to tune a banjo,” he whispers, full of the intensity of a show-runner mid-show. I slip backstage to find the out-of-tune culprit.
“It’s pretty in tune, I just wanted someone to double-check,” says Ivand, 15, Rainbow Tipi. We step aside to a bench near the fire circle where I produce my tuner. “I’m pretty excited, but mostly I’m nervous,” she confesses. “Tonight, I’m performing ‘Fearless’ by Pink Floyd. As a baby my dad would sing ‘Nobody Home’, and some of my early memories are hearing Pink Floyd around the house or watching Live at Pompei.”
“I’m pretty used to performing on stage, but I still get nervous; I don’t think that ever goes away,” continues Ivand. “I love hearing all the voices here. They’re nervous but brave, like me. It’s nice to see.”
The banjo is in mandolin tuning, which throws me off for a second, but soon we are all dialed in. I steal back to the theater to enjoy the last few acts of the show.
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor
