Grade: B
I know so many people who would absolutely howl with laughter at Theater Camp. I would have loved to have seen it in a crowded theater full of those who know their Merman from their Menzel, or their Hammerstein from their Hamilton. I liked it better than Waiting for Guffman, with which it shares cloth. It’s an exaggerated send-up of musical theatre people and camps. It manages to simultaneously parody and show great respect to actors/directors/choreographers/writers/crew.
The sometimes incestuous nature of the business can seem quite cliquish, and in fact, there’s a web of artistic paths crossing within Theater Camp’s creators. Co-writers Molly Gordon (You People, Good Boys) and Ben Platt have been lifelong friends, and both appeared in Booksmart. Noah Galvin, another writer, starred in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, as did his fiancé Platt. Nick Lieberman, who shares the director credit with Molly Gordon, has been friends with Platt since high school. Are you still with me?
The plot involves an annual theater camp (the AdirondACTS) getting together to put on a series of shows. We have Platt and Gordon as Amos and Rebecca-Diane. They were annual attendees (she had a crush on him, but he’s not interested in women), and now they are counselors/instructors. It’s a different kind of year for them, as their founder, Joan (Amy Sedaris) can’t attend because she has suffered a seizure from strobe lights at a recent youth production of Bye Bye Birdie. Don’t you hate those Bye Bye Birdie-induced comas?
Enter Joan’s son Troy, a bro-type who does vlogs about money. He is played by Jimmy Tatro, who appeared in flashbacks as the young version of Bert Kreischer in The Machine. He gives us a character with blunt candor (but no Ebb). He wouldn’t know his 42nd Street from his Avenue Q if it shuffled off to Buffalo right on top of him. Composers James McAlister and Mark Sonnenblick give us original music that evokes the kind of chord progressions you often hear in contemporary musicals. I was reminded that as a non-dancer in a choreography rehearsal, my least favorite numbers are 5, 6, 7, and 8. I’m glad this is all a heightened, over-the-top portrayal. Even though I know my Camelot from my Carousel, I don’t think I could stomach a few weeks at AdirondACTS.
Theater Camp ultimately emerges successfully, even if, for me, it feels like it was taken as far as it could possibly go before the test tubes exploded. There might actually be a crack or two in those tubes. It does help if you know your Lane from your Lloyd Webber. I got literally as much sugar and cliches as I could take. I’m glad it runs at an hour and 32 minutes. I bet it would have annoyed me at an hour 33.
Grade: B
Film Reviews by Mark 
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