encore! Encore! Encore!
Do you love musicals and theater, or have you always wanted to try them out? Then this is the camp for you! Along with traditional camp activities like swimming, boating, crafts, and group games, you will put together a show where you can sing, dance, act, and just have a blast! Throughout the week with your community of campers and direction from experienced staff, you will prepare this performance to showcase to friends and family at the end of the week. As with all of our youth programs, these campers will enjoy time on our challenge courses both low to the ground and high in the sky!
Musical Encore campers bring a unique light to this week at camp. Classic camp songs and gospel tunes with harmony carry across camp for all campers to enjoy. Whether you are looking to take your theatre skills to the next level or just want a safe space to explore your interests in singing, acting or dancing, join us this summer for a week of memories that will last a lifetime!
Our Goals for every camper
Our goal for all overnight campers is to create an environment where they can THRIVE:
Try new experiences
Camp is great exposure to new people, news skills, and new challenges.
Hear Good News
We are here to share in the joy of knowing and following Jesus Christ!
Reset and Renew
We work hard to create a place where campers can be themselves, unplug from devices, and rest.
Inspire One Another
Community experiences and culture creation are intentional, key aspects of every week.
Value Themselves
Campers learn they can do more than they thought possible by learning and growing all week long.
Explore Possibilites
Campers are encouraged to ask questions about their faith, their future, and their world.
The Friday 5 PM Performance
Families arrive for pickup and stay for the Musical Encore performance at 5 PM. The show runs to early evening, pickup happens after. Every camper is in it. The production is built for the cast that showed up, so there is no camper on the sidelines during curtain call.
For rising seniors, this is often one of the last camp weeks in a creative track they have been coming back to for years. The Friday show is the note they go out on.
A Creative Week That Treats Teens Like Artists
Musical Encore is built for the teen who takes their creative work seriously. The rehearsal expectations reflect that. Staff treat campers as performers with real input into the show, which is different from how the younger Music and Drama week works. By Friday, campers have built something that matters to them and performed it for people who came specifically to see it.
It is also the right week for returning Music and Drama campers who have aged up. The creative community is there. The camp community is there. And the Friday show gives the week a real endpoint that the rest of the program points toward.
WHERE YOU'LL STAY
Campers stay in Raab Retreat Lodge, the two-story lodge on Gretna Glen's main campus. The Lodge has bunk-style housing with restrooms in the building. It feels more like home than traditional cabins, which is ideal for the rehearsal schedule and the creative focus.
WHAT PARENTS SHOULD KNOW
Campers who play an instrument should bring it. Pickup runs after the 5 PM performance on Friday, closer to 6 PM than the usual 5-6 PM window. Plan accordingly.
Gretna Glen is ACA-accredited, meeting over 300 health, safety, and quality standards. Program staff are experienced musicians, educators, and clergy members. Ministry Safe and UMC Risk Management certified.
WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR
- Teens 14 to 18 who sing, act, dance, or play an instrument
- Returning Music and Drama campers who have aged up into the older week
- Rising seniors looking for a last creative-focused camp week
- Teens who worship best through music, movement, or performance