Magshimim Dazzles Camp with Hayafa V’Hachaya

On Sunday night, the brand new curtain of the Bet Am Gadol opened up in front of hundreds of chanichim (campers) and madrichim (counselors) as Magshimim began their performance of Hayafa V’Hachaya (Beauty and the Beast). Magshimim worked with Bogrim (rising 9th graders) to put on this musical production entirely in Hebrew with each edah taking about half of the show. Magshimim campers played the villagers, singing the opening song, “Belle,” as well as “Gaston.” In the opening song, we had over 20 featured soloists, all of whom got to sing at least one line in front of the entire camp! Many of our chanichim had never performed in front of such a large group of people before, and it was absolutely exhilarating for them to sing in under the bright lights. Additionally, each bunk performed a short dance that they had choreographed themselves a week earlier. As I walked around the tzrifim (bunks) during nikayon (clean-up time), bechirot (free time), and before getting ready for bed, I was always excited to see the tzrifim practicing their dances and rehearsing their formations until they got it exactly right. And their hard work paid off: I can unbiasedly say that that opening number was one of the best performances Macheneh Ramah had ever seen!

In addition to these two songs that were already in the original Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, the boys and girls each took part in an original dance choreographed by their madrichim. The madrichim were hard at work choreographing these dances even before the chanichim arrived for second session, and were extremely excited to teach these dances. They found new and exciting ways to teach and get the chanichim excited about dancing. For example, the Banim (boys) planned a special “sneak out” where they dressed in all black and crept around camp late at night until they finally ended up in the Beit Am Gadol. Once there, the counselors revealed that they were having a special nighttime practice session for their dance. Instead of being annoyed at this extra rehearsal, they were thrilled at the opportunity to do something late at night and out of the ordinary. Their passion was evident through the performance itself! SEE THE VIDEO HERE!

More than anything, the machazemer (musical) was an opportunity to come together as an edah and showcase something that we had worked really hard on. The chanichim felt a real sense of accomplishment, and the tzevet (staff) felt truly proud of their chanichim. Additionally, the machazemer was a great learning experience, as chanichim worked on every aspect of the show: singing and dancing, props, costumes, sets, lights, and even stage management. Now, with a sense of pride in our edah and great unity, we can move forward into the last two weeks of our summer.