Theater Camp Guide

Starring Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, and an ensemble of hilarious young talent, this film isn’t just a comedy about the fictional "AdirondACTS" camp. It is a raw, unflinching, and deeply affectionate documentary about all of us who peaked in the high school auditorium.

The film follows the staff (played brilliantly by Gordon and Platt) as they try to keep the camp afloat after the founder falls into a coma during a one-woman show about Evita . The kids are weird. The counselors are broke. The original musical they are scrambling to put together? It’s about a pizza place that gets turned into a tech startup. It’s terrible. It’s brilliant. It’s exactly the kind of unhinged, self-serious nonsense that happens when you give teenagers a budget and a lighting board. Without spoiling the best running gag in years, let’s talk about the documentary crew asking a precocious 11-year-old, "Who is your favorite actress?" Theater Camp

Watch Theater Camp anyway. It is a masterclass in ensemble comedy (the "Camp Isn't Home" musical number is worth the rental price alone). But more than that, it is a story about found family. Starring Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, and an ensemble

Her answer isn't Meryl Streep. It's a deeply obscure Broadway understudy from the 1990s. The kids are weird

There is a specific, sacred smell in the air during the first day of theater camp. It’s a potent mix of dusty stage curtains, E6000 glue, nervous sweat, and the faint hint of desperation that comes from trying to paint a 20-foot flat for Annie in under four hours.

And to the former camp kids reading this: Yes, you did deserve a Tony for that ensemble part in the ensemble of Fame Jr. . Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.