Parents' Guide to Theater Camp

Platt and Gordon's tribute to (and parody of) summer drama intensives is an amusing treat best suited for fans of musicals and camp comedies. There's a particular joy to the subgenre of summer camp movies, because they usually focus as much on the wacky counselors and staffers as they do the eager tween and teen campers, and Theater Camp is no exception. For every kid who's hoping to be cast in the next Broadway sensation, there's a staffer whose career prospects aren't much higher than cruise entertainment or regional and community theater. As Rebecca-Diane and Amos, Gordon and Platt model a hilariously co-dependent friendship. Edebiri (Gordon's Emmy nominated co-star in The Bear) does a lot with a little in her small supporting role as a resume-padding staffer. Tatro, who's built his career playing bro-ish, clueless characters, is well cast as Troy, Joan's well-intentioned but punchable son. Graham and Thiele give laugh-out-loud, scene-stealing performances, and Galvin shines as the unassuming stage manager who's secretly a triple threat.

The kids are also quite funny. One young character with two gay dads has to come to terms with being straight and athletic. Another, in one of the movie's most memorable scenes, is confronted for using a "tear stick" to help her cry during a scene. (It's "doping" à la Lance Armstrong, Rebecca-Diane and Amos insist, horrified at the girl's brazen attempt to cheat at the craft of acting.) A subplot about the camp's finances is almost unnecessary, because the show is really the thing here. It would be easy to dismiss this entire movie as a nepotism/vanity project, since Platt, Gordon, and Lieberman -- who've been friends since childhood -- all have producer, director, actor, writer parents. But while it's true that a lesser-connected friend group probably couldn't have gotten Theater Camp made, it's almost extra funny because of that fact. These young actors may never end up settling for seasonal regional gigs like their characters, but that doesn't diminish the fondness and affection they have for the striving, drama-loving people they play -- or the young actors with big dreams their characters are surrounded by at AdirondACTS. It's the earnestness of these characters that makes the movie funny in a sweet way, rather than a mean one, because even for kids and adults who will never end up on Broadway, the show must go on.