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Theater Camp
In the grand tradition of the Christopher Guest mockumentary comes 2023's Theater Camp, a near brilliant send up of community theater in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman that provides the same manic energy of Donny's Bar Mitzvah and is so completely on target; unfortunately, because of the subject matter no one is going to see it.
The setting is a summer theater camp in upstate New York that has been run for decades by one Joan Rubinsky, but right before the summer begins, a freak accident during a performance of Bye Bye Birdie puts her in the hospital in a coma. This puts Joan's idiotic son, Troy, in charge of the camp, even though he doesn't know a thing about theater, which has acting coach Amos (Tony Award winner Ben Platt) and music coach Rebecca-Diane (MollyGordon), sort of a musical theater version of Will and Grace. Amos and Rebecca decide go ahead with their productions this year, Damn Yankees, Cats, and an original musical about Joan called "Joan Still." They, of course, also have to deal with the fact that camp is in serious debt and is being threatened to be shut down and it is up to the moron Troy to handle this with the help of Glen, the technical director, who really dreams of a career onstage, instead of building scenery and adjusting spotlights.
The near brilliant screenplay by Gordon, Noah Galvin, who also plays Glen, and Nick Leiberman is a perfect comedic valentine to community theater made even funnier because most of the participants are children. From the initial amusement of the audition sequences where kids are singing songs completely inappropriate and not caring (Loved the overweight black teenage boy singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked) to Amos and Rebecca's haphazard composing of the original musical to Troy's ridiculous schemes to raise money to keep the camp open to a member of the staff ditching the production at the last minute for a real acting job, everything rings true here, for anyone who has had any kind of experience in the theater.
The other thing that I loved about this movie is that despite all the ridiculous and over the top things that happen in this movie, the kids cast as the camp participants really are incredibly talented and this piece really allows all of them a chance to shine. Love the 12 year old black kid who gets to shine on "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd, or the kid Devon who learns to be honest with his gay dads about his heterosexuality. And the final production of "Joan Still" is an absolute joy, featuring an elaborate tap number set on Wall Street and a funky dance number set at Studio 54, a place that a lot of kids in this movie nevr heard of before being cast in this movie.
Ben Platt is allowed to lighten up from the depressing Dear Evan Hansen but it would have been nice if he had gotten to sing a little more. Noah Galvin was a revelation as Glen but Jimmy Tatro was the real scene stealer as Troy. And if you don't blink, you might catch a cameo from original cast member from A Chorus Line, Priscilla Lopez. Despite its obvious limited appeal, this film was still rip roaring funny from opening to closing credits.
In the grand tradition of the Christopher Guest mockumentary comes 2023's Theater Camp, a near brilliant send up of community theater in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman that provides the same manic energy of Donny's Bar Mitzvah and is so completely on target; unfortunately, because of the subject matter no one is going to see it.
The setting is a summer theater camp in upstate New York that has been run for decades by one Joan Rubinsky, but right before the summer begins, a freak accident during a performance of Bye Bye Birdie puts her in the hospital in a coma. This puts Joan's idiotic son, Troy, in charge of the camp, even though he doesn't know a thing about theater, which has acting coach Amos (Tony Award winner Ben Platt) and music coach Rebecca-Diane (MollyGordon), sort of a musical theater version of Will and Grace. Amos and Rebecca decide go ahead with their productions this year, Damn Yankees, Cats, and an original musical about Joan called "Joan Still." They, of course, also have to deal with the fact that camp is in serious debt and is being threatened to be shut down and it is up to the moron Troy to handle this with the help of Glen, the technical director, who really dreams of a career onstage, instead of building scenery and adjusting spotlights.
The near brilliant screenplay by Gordon, Noah Galvin, who also plays Glen, and Nick Leiberman is a perfect comedic valentine to community theater made even funnier because most of the participants are children. From the initial amusement of the audition sequences where kids are singing songs completely inappropriate and not caring (Loved the overweight black teenage boy singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked) to Amos and Rebecca's haphazard composing of the original musical to Troy's ridiculous schemes to raise money to keep the camp open to a member of the staff ditching the production at the last minute for a real acting job, everything rings true here, for anyone who has had any kind of experience in the theater.
The other thing that I loved about this movie is that despite all the ridiculous and over the top things that happen in this movie, the kids cast as the camp participants really are incredibly talented and this piece really allows all of them a chance to shine. Love the 12 year old black kid who gets to shine on "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd, or the kid Devon who learns to be honest with his gay dads about his heterosexuality. And the final production of "Joan Still" is an absolute joy, featuring an elaborate tap number set on Wall Street and a funky dance number set at Studio 54, a place that a lot of kids in this movie nevr heard of before being cast in this movie.
Ben Platt is allowed to lighten up from the depressing Dear Evan Hansen but it would have been nice if he had gotten to sing a little more. Noah Galvin was a revelation as Glen but Jimmy Tatro was the real scene stealer as Troy. And if you don't blink, you might catch a cameo from original cast member from A Chorus Line, Priscilla Lopez. Despite its obvious limited appeal, this film was still rip roaring funny from opening to closing credits.