Stagedoor Manor

Stagedoor Manor is a performing arts training center located in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Since its opening, it has trained thousands of young actors, many of whom have gone on to success in film, television, and theater. Stagedoor Manor is located in a former Catskills Borscht Belt resort (Karmel Hotel) in Loch Sheldrake, New York that was redesigned in the 1970s. The camp consists of a variety of theatre spaces, including the Carousel, the Cabaret, the Forum, the Merman, and the outdoor Garden Theatre. The four largest theaters are the 350-seat Carl and Elsie Samuelson Theatre, the 250-seat Jack Romano Playhouse, the Oasis Theatre (a theatre-in-the-round), and the new Forum Theatre. Format Each summer, Stagedoor Manor holds three three-week-long sessions that start in late June and end in late August. Approximately 280 campers, ranging in age from 10 to 18, attend each session. Over each summer the 170+ staff collaborate with the producers to mount 42 fully realized productions in their 8 onsite venues (3 proscenium theaters, a theater in the round, 2 black boxes, a cabaret style space and a natural outdoor amphitheater). During each three-week session, the camp produces 9 musicals, 5 plays, Dramafest (a one-act playwrighting competition), and two unique cabaret performances (the Our Time Cabaret and Player's Ensemble). The program's impact on the careers and networking of child actors was described by film director Shawn Levy in the June 15, 2007, edition of The New York Post: "If someone plays that Stagedoor card, it's like whispering the location of a party with a secret location...I could sing you that song from the camp's yearly cabaret, and that's the equivalent of the secret handshake."