What Is Kapers?
The Kiwanis Club of Kingston has held our annual event Kiwanis Kapers ever year since 1921. That's a long time.
But what exactly is Kiwanis Kapers?
Kapers is a "farce" - which is defined as: a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations.
It's a 2 - 3 hour show where the membership and a few special friends perform "acting" and "singing" roles to tell a story. That story is usually a parody of a well known movie, story or television show.
We make a mess of it. On purpose.
There's a lot of fun in the fact that none of us are actors or singers, yet there we are, on stage doing our thing. Some of the funniest times are when someone mixes up their lines and shows their vulnerability - but make not mistake, we take this very seriously and work hard to bring you a great show every year.
The more important question is WHY Kapers?
This is a lot of work. The writer and director starts on the show more than a year before the event. The singers start practicing months in advance. The actors get and (are supposed to) start learning and practicing their lines months in advance.
The week prior to the event we have practice every night at the venue.
It really is a lot of work - so why?
The "Why" is simple, really. Every year Kapers is one of our two big fundraising events. The money we raise goes directly to children and adults in our community in a variety of ways.
One such way is our scholarships for graduating seniors in our local high schools. We aim to give out 20 such awards each year.
Over the years, we've awarded well over $800,000 in scholarships to help our very deserving youth in the community.
That's why.