Don’t miss the bus
going to ‘Camp’

A counter review by RICHARD A. ROSS

“There’s a place for us,” words written by lyricist Stephen Sondheim for his smash musical “West Side Story,” could aptly describe what camp means to those who have been transformed by the magic it can render.

For some, camp is about finding a place to fit in and a chance to become ones self. It is fitting that Sondheim, an icon of immense stature at the time director Todd Graff went to Stagedoor Manor thirty years ago, should make a cameo appearance in the movie, “Camp.”

A five-year project, the film is likely to have a strong appeal to teenagers who are struggling with their sense of identity and adults who have “been there” and are remembering the trials of their youth and places like Camp Ovation that helped them survive their adolescence.

Based on what Graff refers to as a “transformative” experience at Stagedoor Manor, the film centers on characters that carry the shards of Graff’s teenage angst and struggles. From their dysfunctional homes, they seek refuge from a world that is filled with rejection and pain. Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat) is the plain girl that has to ask her own brother to take her to the prom; Michael (Robin de Jesus) is rejected by his family and schoolmates for his cross dressing; and Jenna (Tiffany Taylor) has a weight problem that warrants—according to her father—having her jaw wired shut for the summer.

Camp Ovation offers them more than an escape from all of that; it provides them with a chance to work hard and succeed at something they love: acting. Most important is the sense of pride and worth that the performance and relationships instill in them. Time and again, the film’s characters are successful in changing the polarity of their experiences from negative to positive.

Fritzi (Anna Kendrick) morphs from her lackey role into Jill (Alana Allen), a stage diva. Later, Jenna (Tiffany Taylor) has her jaw wires removed and sings a stirring musical number, “Here’s Where I Stand,” to a packed house and—more importantly—her parents. Even the caustic rejection of Broadway washout camp musical director Bert Hanley (Don Dixon) calling them a bunch of freaks and telling them they’ll never make it is undaunting. Instead, they end up “borrowing” his unpublished work and performing it, which wins him over. Working out their painful issues of betrayal, rejection and feelings of low self-esteem in a supportive and positive environment offers the chance to foster bonds that can last a lifetime.

That explains why former Stagedoor Manor campers return year after year and why Graff retained the resonance of those years, determined to negotiate a way to finally make this film.

In interviews, he compares himself to Vlad, played by Daniel Letterle. Vlad is by his own description “an attention junkie” who seems obsessed with using his attractiveness to flirt and manipulate the people around him. Realizing the damage he has wrought, Vlad (like Graff) begins to see the shallowness of it all by the end of the film.

“You try to get right in art what you didn’t get right in real life,” Graff recently told WJFF interviewer Sabrina Artel.

The energy of the film ramps up to another level in its musical numbers, showing Graff’s strong background and understanding of the medium right from the opening dream sequence of “How Shall I See You Through My Tears.”

“Camp” is a movie that should not be missed. As Graff said, “If you are a kid, have a kid or know a teen that is not fitting inside the box in terms of sexual orientation, acne, body issues or being crazy about musicals, it’s not about trying to stuff them into the box. My advice is to make the box bigger.”

“Camp” does just that.