MSU Summer Scholars presents ‘Primetime Pilots’ this week

��ɫ��Ƶ freshman Spencer Floyd of Mooreville works on the lighting in the McComas Hall theater ahead of the Summer Scholars Onstage Camp presentation of “Primetime Pilots” on Friday and Saturday [July 22-23]. Admission to the musical is free and open to the public. (Photo by Sarah Dutton)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—��ɫ��Ƶ’s Summer Scholars Onstage Camp will engage audiences when it presents a musical comedy Friday and Saturday [July 22 and 23] on the McComas Hall main stage.

Titled “Primetime Pilots,” the 2016 three-act student collaboration will mark the popular university camp’s 35th consecutive production. Curtain time for Friday’s show is 7 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.

Admission is free to all, as is a reception that follows Friday’s show in the McComas Hall lobby.

A three-week residential program sponsored by the College of Education, Summer Scholars brings together mostly gifted middle and high school students to handle all writing, scoring and production duties.

Despite the title, “Primetime Pilots” is about television, not aviation. As a plot twist, McComas audience members will be asked to help determine the fate of three proposed shows.

Parodying such small-screen staples as teen comedies and dramas, celebrity-based competitions and superhero-science fiction-fantasy genres, each act involves a distinct plotline in which actors give hints of future developments that, by the end, tells a complete tale.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is co-sponsor of the special summer program that director Joe Ray Underwood founded in the early 1980s. Campers are guided by experienced musicians, choreographers and costumers, as well a director and other staff, he said.

“We surround them with good models,” Underwood said of the creative process. “We really do promote person well-being and try to give (the campers) confidence.”

A ��ɫ��Ƶ professor emeritus of counseling and educational psychology, Underwood is an alumnus of the land-grant institution who served as its 1966-67 Student Association president.

Following a traditional format, Summer Scholars 2016 began with a weeklong session devoted solely to original script composition. This is followed by two weeks of highly organized production chaos that brings the music and dialogue together for a final package.

Musical director Kris Lee is an MSU communication/theatre graduate and Summer Scholars alumnus now teaching creative writing and drama at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus.

Recalling his own camper days in the early 1990s, Lee credits that participation with forming an “indelible” part of his upbringing. It also made him eager to accept former director Paula Mabry’s request to follow her as play director, he emphasized.

“For me, it’s now nostalgic,” Lee said. “I love giving back to this community.”

Lee expressed confidence that Summer Scholars will continue to find ways to appeal to young students that are developing—or already have—a deep interest in the varied facets of stage production.

He noted that this year’s session included a three-student group focused solely on composing music for the different acts. In addition to all of the dialogue, 11 of the production’s 15 musical numbers are camper-created, he added.

“It’s a very intense three weeks, but you leave with friendships and a strong sense of confidence,” Lee said. “It really does build character.”

For more about Summer Scholars Onstage, visit .

Complete information on the MSU College of Education is found at .

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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