It’s four hours to go until the Zimriyah (song festival) starts, and chaos is brewing.
There are wires everywhere, mics that still need to be leveled, and, worst of all, rain is forecasted.
Lilah Heifetz (Nivo 2024) lives for it.
“I love this,” Heifetz said. “I love knowing how things work and making things work.”
The junior counselor, despite being in her first summer on staff, is no stranger to the tech booth.
“I was a Bet Am Kid,” Heifetz said.
As a camper, she spent hours in the walls of the Bet Am, studying everything from the stage to the inner workings of the lighting system.
Her teacher? Her now-colleague David Alperin (Nivo 2019).
Alperin had to constantly remind Heifetz to go to her prakim as a camper since she wanted to learn it all, he said.
Heifetz learned a lot from Alperin, and their rapport has benefited the whole machaneh (camp).
Because of their previous collaborations, the two of them know how to work together efficiently and have transformed the tech at camp into a well-oiled machine.
“Working in this anaf (activity) is how I got to where I am going to be in college.”
– Lilah Heifetz (Nivo 2024)
After three summers of unofficial collaborations, Heifetz finally got her shot on the inside with the internship program in Nivonim (entering 11th grade).
“I finally got to actually do things,” Heifetz remarked.
And work she did.
Heifetz’s Nivo summer coincided with the installation of new tech in the Bet Am, which meant there was a whole new set of materials to design and engineer.
The new technology allowed for a plethora of new opportunities. Alperin jumped at the chance to create a new show, pouring hours of work into one of the most technologically complex shows camp has ever seen: Nivo 2024’s production of עלובי החיים (Les Misérables).
“(I got) to create something for my campers that was really beyond anything I had ever dreamed of,” Alperin said. “It was a lot of work, and to have that be realized in really beautiful ways is so powerful.”
Heifetz, who was in that production, recalled how that show allowed her to both participate in her aidah’s final production and also work on her passion for technical theater.
Her responsibilities ranged from memorizing lines to helping with the technical efforts backstage. She helped swap microphone packs, set up and clean up the platforms — a Tzevet Omanuyot Haba’amah (performing arts staff) tradition — and more.
“I love being in the space and making things happen,” Heifetz said. “It was really cool to actually do it.”
Ramah is where Heifetz found her passion for technical design, and she used her camp experience as a jumping-off point to gain further experience in stage management at school.
Now, she’s planning on studying audio engineering at Purdue University in the fall.
“Working in this anaf (activity) is how I got to where I am going to be in college,” Heifetz said.
Despite not being seen, tech is present in almost everything at camp. Heifetz and Alperin spend countless nights workshopping designs in the Bet Am, assisting with many peulot erev (evening activities), and ensuring the camp runs smoothly.
It all pays off, though, when they get to witness the magic of the show.
“We really do create magic for all the campus and staff, and hopefully you can’t really tell that we’re doing it,” Alperin said. “It should really just happen.”
What can be seen, however, is the duo of Alperin and Heifetz near the tech booth at every show.
Dancing to the side.
