From left, Zoe Hadden, Sydney Maslovsky and Wilder Stewart rehearse “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

KEENE VALLEY — Full-length, Broadway-bound shows spend an average of two months in rehearsal before performing in front of an audience. The Book and Blanket Players in Keene Valley, ever the overachievers, give themselves a single week — start to finish.

Kathleen Recchia, the Book and Blanket Players’ producer, director and all-around leader, compared the marathon rehearsal process to the North Country’s intense sporting events.

“Why do they do Ironman?” Recchia asked. “We kind of call this the Ironman of musical theater.”

This year’s show is “Everyone Loves Camping,” a full-length musical written by Recchia and Book and Blanket veterans and high school students Cooper Halloran and Sadie Burgess. The cast consists of 17 performers ranging in age from 8 to 18 years old, and it’ll be performed on Saturday evening, July 13, at Keene Central School and in a concert-style performance on Sunday, July 14, at the Keene Valley Country Club.

Halloran and Burgess began developing the musical with Recchia in September. They originally developed a murder-mystery show set at the Keene Valley Country Club, but in January they pivoted to the family-friendly camping musical to better suit the age range of Book and Blanket performers.

Olive Stewart rehearses “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

“It’s about a family of two parents with their two children who go on a camping trip,” Halloran said. “(There’s) a lot of hijinks, a lot of family drama. It’s a fun show. I think it’s funny — it’s goofy, it’s campy. There’s dramatic moments as well, but it’s just a lot of fun.”

Burgess, aside from being a co-writer, also plays the mom. She said participating in the writing process has helped her performance.

“Because I wrote it, I understand (my character) way better than I would’ve if I had just gotten the script,” she said.

Veterans of the musical-in-one-week process, Halloran and Burgess both said the rehearsal week is stressful yet rewarding.

“Every year I’ve done it, I’ve said, ‘This is the most stressful week of my life. I’m never doing it again.’ And then, six months later, I’m like, ‘Kathy, what are we doing next year?” Halloran said. “It’s because of the people. I love the people here and I love working with everybody.”

Maple Judd rehearses “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

“All my close friends are from this, so that’s really great,” Burgess said. “It’s so stressful, and then you have to learn lines and music, and then you have to work with other people, and they don’t learn their lines.

“We’re all community. We’re all supporting each other. It’s so stressful, but it’s fun,” Burgess added.

Silas D’Auria, who is participating in his second Book and Blanket Players show, said that he struggled through the rehearsal process last year only to realize he loved it.

“When I was done with it, I was like, ‘I might want to do it (again). That was kind of fun,'” he said.

D’Auria plays the father of the family, and he’s having a good time with the part.

Amelia Hyman rehearses “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

“It’s fun to have a role like that,” he said.

Olive Stewart, a longtime Book and Blanket Player, plays Ranger Redford, a forest ranger who’s a little too devoted to her job.

“My character is a ranger, and she’s spent years searching for this dude who lives out in the woods,” she said. “She’s kind of lost her marbles over her obsession to find him. It’s really interesting.”

Everything about the show, from its initial writing process to casting and staging, was guided by Recchia. Halloran said Recchia is indispensable.

“Kathy Recchia does the most insane amount of work,” he said. “I don’t think she sleeps during this week. The amount of work she puts in for all of us is incredible and she’s — I don’t know how she does it. It’s one of the most impressive feats of endurance.”

Amelia Chin rehearses “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

This is the 14th year that the Book and Blanket Players have put together a musical in a week. In past years, they’ve done both original musicals and well-known Broadway shows, including “Little Women,” “1776,” “Road to Dannemora” and last year’s “Treasure Island, a Musical Reinvention.”

“(The kids) really rise to the occasion,” Recchia said. She came up with the idea for the Book and Blanket Players’ one-week musical after seeing other theaters put together full-scale productions in nine or 10 days.

“I got to see how it was done and thought, you know, we can do this,” she added. “The first year or two, we would always hold our breath. Can we really do this? Especially Wednesdays — usually our hump day.”

As the years have gone on, the Book and Blanket team has its routine down and a dedicated following. The performers rehearse from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day in the week leading up to the Saturday performance.

It has also received significant funding from community organizations — it’s sponsored by East Branch Friends of the Arts and this year received funding from Stewart’s Shops, the Pumpkin Hill Foundation and the Statewide Community Regrants Program, which is administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.

Orra Sprague rehearses “Everyone Loves Camping” at Keene Central School on Tuesday, July 9. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

Halloran said the most rewarding part of the process is the teamwork involved.

“When it’s done, just the relief and the pride that you feel knowing that you did that, and all these people you worked with all did amazing. It’s indescribable,” he said.

“The excitement, it’s just so much fun,” D’Auria said. “It’s totally worth it.”

For some of the performers, performing is not just a way to entertain themselves for a week in the summertime — it’s a way to grow as people.

“It’s like a way to express myself without actually having to express myself, which I found really helpful because I personally struggle with telling and talking and communicating and telling people how I’m feeling,” Stewart said. “So, it’s like, instead of telling people how I’m feeling, I know what’s going to happen because I’ve gone through what’s going to happen so many times for this character. It’s like I’m helping the character speak and tell people who they are.”

“There’s just something about performing and helping people perform and helping them find their characters and finding your own,” Halloran said. “There’s just something about it that isn’t necessarily always appealing in the moment, but it always feels so rewarding and always feels like you’ve grown so much in just a short amount of time. It’s one of the craziest feelings I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“Everyone Loves Camping” will be performed in the Keene Central School auditorium at 6 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. There will also be a concert-style performance at the Keene Valley Country Club at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Sunday performance is by reservation only. To reserve tickets, call 518-487-0041.