Theater Camp (#453)

I saw my first Broadway musical at the ripe old age of 13 when I saw the first collaboration of Rogers and Hammerstein entitled Oklahoma, and I loved it and found myself enamored for life with Broadway musicals.  With that as background, I went to see THEATER CAMP, and it was a pleasant surprise.  It vaguely reminded me of the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney films of my youth, in which the twosome lead a group of young people to do something good by “putting on  a show.”  This one stars no one familiar to me.  The film is about a summer camp for budding actors, singers and dancers established by a woman who  has died or is seriously ill, and two young longtime instructors at the camp do their best to hold things together in her absence.  The fly in the ointment is the founding woman’s son, who takes a leadership role at the camp but  hasn’t a clue to what makes the camp work.  The instructors plan an original show based on the life of the founder and despite setbacks (many of which are  caused by the bumbling son), reach their goal.  The young campers are an amazingly talented group of actors, dancers and .  This is a musical comedy that will certainly appeal to theater lovers but easy enough for others to enjoy as well. And almost the very best thing about the movie is that it is only one and a half hours long.  Critics and audiences enjoyed it as well with 84% and 80% thumbs up respectively.