A 65-acre lakeside campus in Maine custom-designed to develop musicals.
our campus
Mount Vernon, Maine: Population 1,728
On the shore of Torsey Lake, 75 minutes from Portland
Drama Club Camp is a creative oasis for progressive and transgressive theater makers alike. In pursuit of our mission, we have created a modern musical theater-maker’s heaven situated just four hours from New York City. Nestled on 65 acres of lakefront beauty, Drama Club Camp is an amazing, tranquil, charming environment along the shore of Torsey Lake in rural Mount Vernon, Maine. Across multiple buildings, each space is designed to support the creation of collaborative musical work and is equipped with the tools that empower teams to create at the highest level.
Artists reside in our century-old lodge, Drama Clubhouse, which has 14 bedrooms, a communal dining room, camper and commerical kitchens, a great room with a Steinway baby grand, three fireplaces, and numerous gathering areas.
Bedrooms are single or double-occupancy with queen beds and desks or electric pianos (weighted, midi-ready). Inexplicably, most bedrooms have sinks. The Clubhouse has four bathrooms shared by all guests.
The Campus also has a rehearsal space (the Rec Hall), a recording studio, a writing cabin (the Woodshed), wicked-fast Wi-Fi, printers, instruments, music stands, and more. Tour the campus by clicking through the gallery below.
For inspiration, look no further than our miles of hiking trails, hidden glens, Frog and Toad Pond, the firepit, Woodshed, or relax on our pristine lakefront as you listen to the loons inspire your next rhyme.
Will you wander and discover a secret art installation? A private collaboration station? A relaxing oasis? All of Camp is designed to bring out your creative genius.
our programs
Musical Theatre Writer Residencies
Free week-long residencies for emerging and traditionally excluded musical theater writers
When you attend, you become a camper and join us in our commitment to progressive theater that reflects the full spectrum of the human experience. You also commit to constructive, kind, and respectful human interaction at all times while at Camp, where the differentiator is creating in community.
The spirit of Camp is casual — you are guests in our (very large) home. We share space, doors don’t lock, and we spend time together. Think of it as a seven-day dinner party with day-long breaks where you go and write. Every evening, a family-style dinner is served at 6:30pm and is followed by a share session in the Great Room.
Share sessions are the time when we all come together, and the benefit of creating in community is ripe for the taking. Sessions are writer-centric, and writers are encouraged to bring questions about their material that this audience can answer, thereby accellerating their development. Share sessions include not only your fellow artists-in-residence but occasionally invited producers, directors, musicians, choreographers, and other multi-media artists with whom Drama Club collaborates. Sessions can be followed by board games, a campfire, an outdoor movie, stargazing at the beach, or more writing.
We are theater artists. We love theater artists. We want more theater artists. We want to see and develop exciting work for future life in regional, non-profit, stock and amateur, and first-class productions. DCC gives us a chance to nurture a community, build relationships with other artists, and get a glimpse of work before anyone else. When the stars align, we hope to shepherd the work we love to its greatest potential.
Commercial Musical Takeovers
Get away and work together in a way that is focused, resourced, and affordable
Designed by and for musical theatre pros, Drama Club Camp is the perfect place for your show’s team to get away and work together in a purpose-built facility. No more Airbnb’s in the Hamptons or expensive rehearsal studios killing your budget either - you can pay for Camp with an investment we will make into your production.
We welcome commercial producers who need a safe, well-appointed, simple, and affordable collaboration solution for one or two weeks at a time. Come take over our entire campus. Have your director meet with your bookwriter in the Woodshed while your composer and choreographer figure out a movement sequence in the rec hall. At the same time, the MD teaches actors songs for that night’s sharing presentation. All of this can happen simultaneously at Drama Club’s Commercial Musical Takeovers.
Available May to November, Takeovers are Sunday to Saturday and can be one or two weeks long.
Collaborations
Empowering non-profits and mission-aligned teams to do their best work
Our facility is intended to be a resource that helps broaden the canon of musical theater. To that end, we make our facility available for rent on sliding scales to non-profits and individual producers seeking to do the same. In addition to bringing writers for residencies, we welcome team development retreats for theaters and arts non-profits, collaboration and co-production hacks for groups of regional presenters, and convening any critical mass that can positively disrupt the industry whose art we love and whose business is terrible. Want to use our facility to do some good?
Rentals
Welcoming professionals and creatives to campus
Drama Club Camp is available for rent. When not in use and in select circumstances, we make our facility available for rent by community, educational, and non-profit entities. We have hosted board dinners, day-long meetings, and academic research projects. We are also available to rent as a location for your video project.
