Hey, Kids, Let’s Put on a Show! — THEATER CAMP
By Maribeth Thueson
Theater nerds, Theater Camp is the movie for you! Filmed as a mockumentary, Theater Camp combines satire with genuine affection for theater and those who love it, teach it, and aspire to it. The movie was created by pals and former theater kids Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Noah Galvin, and Ben Platt. Gordon and Lieberman directed the film, and all four co-wrote the script and wrote the songs, along with Mark Sonnenblick. Their view from the inside of theater camps and programs for kids gives the film an authenticity that shines through in the skewering of its oddball characters.
Theater Camp takes place in a summer camp called AdirondACTS, which is run by founder and long-time director Joan (Amy Sedaris). When she is stricken with a coma, her finance vlogger son Troy (Jimmy Tatro), who knows nothing about theater, takes over and tries to keep the camp from foreclosure. And, yeah, the camp will be saved if only the teachers and kids can put on a really good show.
But forget that the movie has antecedents ranging from Judy-and-Mickey musicals through Wet Hot American Summer and Waiting for Guffman. It has its own charms and is really funny. There are quick one-off jokes (like the one about the “Fosse kids,” who go around snapping their fingers), but mostly the humor comes from the overweening egos of the teachers, for whom a job on a cruise ship is a big step up. Despite their lack of actual performing experience, Amos (Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Gordon) are convinced they are experts who have chosen to teach rather than perform. It goes without saying that in their case, the saying “those who can’t, teach” is a truism. They compliment the kids who are chosen for their original musical, Joan, Still (a tribute to the camp’s founder) by telling them that they are very talented, but that “this will break you; this will fully destroy you.” Welcome to camp, kids!
The other teachers don’t get as much screen time, but are just as eccentric, including Nathan Lee Graham as the dance teacher and Owen Thiele as the costume teacher. Ayo Edibiri plays a teacher who lies on her resume and gets a job as the stage combat instructor, despite not even knowing what that is. And Galvin steals the show (literally — you’ll see) as the sweet, long-suffering stage manager who has hidden performing talents.
Theater Camp includes kids, too, of course, and they are very talented, but they exist mostly as a counterpoint to the teachers. They either roll their eyes at the teachers’ nonsensical wisdom, or have absorbed the Kool-Aid a little too much, such as when they treat a job waiting tables as an immersive performance opportunity, or when one kid hits another in front of a shocked visitor and then both kids take a bow. Stage combat, indeed!
It all comes together when the kids perform Joan, Still for an invited audience, singing Rebecca-Diane’s terrible lyrics with such gusto that it’ll bring tears to your eyes, no tear stick needed. (“Tear sticks are doping for actors!” Rebecca-Diane berates one camper.) The film’s heart lies in the sense that for teachers and campers alike, theater is a place where they feel they belong, where oddballs and outsiders can fit in. That makes this a movie everyone can relate to and enjoy, not just theater nerds.
Originally published at https://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on August 3, 2023.
