Scares, Carnivals and Candy

The Robson Performing Arts Center in Claremore offers a variety of Halloween activities for all ages.

This year’s festivities include a haunted house with an asylum theme.

October brings to mind beautiful fall leaves, cooler temperatures and children dressing up to cash in on tricks and treats.  Claremore’s Robson Performing Arts Center is in full swing with activities for the whole family.   The Robson Performing Arts Center is for all students and families from Green Country. The center is mounting a Halloween carnival for the whole family, a haunted house and lots of games.
Heading into the third year of the annual Haunted House, this year promises to be bigger than ever.  Usually housed in the center’s smaller performance space, this year it moves to the large main stage area, promising to be twice as big with twice the scares.  
“Each year there is a theme,” noted the architect and designer of the haunted house, Monica Sallaway, “and this year’s theme is an insane asylum.”  
The asylum will be full of theatre students training hard with drama teacher, Maigan McPherson to dish out the scares.   
“There are three levels of scary,” states Maigan, “just in case you have a young person that really wants to go through the haunted house, but may not be fully up to all the frights at a hundred percent.”
The Robson PAC is home to The Imagine ACTion Youth Theatre Camp.  Most of the kids call it, “I Act.”  
“No child is ever turned away due to lack of funds,” mentions I ACT co-founder, Pamela Neuok,  “and that is why they raise funds through the Halloween season along with the rest of the year.”  
Funds from the Haunted House and other carnival activities also go toward the theatre and music departments of the schools.  
“Supporting the arts is vital to giving the children every opportunity to become all that they can be,” proclaims  the PAC’s Executive Director, Ruby Quinn.  “These children have major goals in their lives, and with experience in the arts, these performers will grow up to be critical thinkers, team players, and strong speakers, whether they choose to stay in the arts or in all fields including science and technology.”
While the Asylum is scaring its victims, there will also be a “pop walk” and some other fun activities just in case everyone in the family isn’t in love with haunted houses.  The music director, Ruiel Doonkeen, will lead the pop walk where people move around to the music, but when the music stops, everyone sits.  If you’re sitting in the lucky chair, you get a soda!  What better combination with all that Halloween candy?
On two special nights, October 29th and 31st, the lobby of the Robson Performing Arts Center is transformed into a Halloween Carnival full of games, prizes, face painting, candy hand-outs, green screen photos and more, all in a safe and fun environment for families  with little ones and big ones, while helping to support the arts of the area.  The box office will be open to give as many carnival tickets as you would like.  The Haunted House and Pop Walk will be held on October 28, 29, 30 and 31st from 6 pm to 10pm.  Admission to the Asylum is $5.   The Robson Performing Arts Center is located next to Claremore High School.