Theater Camp is a new, fun adventure that takes the viewer to a theater camp for young kids. The directorial debut of both directors, Molly Gordon, who is also a part of the lead cast, and Nick Lieberman. The story is a great time that, while takes time to emotionally build the characters’ arcs, doesn’t forget to be funny.
As Joan (Amy Sedaris) enters a coma because of stroboscopic lights at a kids’ play, her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) must take over her camp and figure out how to remain afloat even with the financial difficulties. The theater-loving staff is not pleased with the new addition, but they have a lot on their plates to focus especially their shows. All this happens in the middle of a documentary being shot. With Fresh Certificate on Rotten Tomatoes, this is an incredible directorial debut. Here are the funniest moments of the movie.
10 "Better Now" by Post Malone
The audition process is stressful for the students, especially the acting students. To be a part of the new musical, Joan, Still is something they all want. So, when the new kid, Devon (Donovan Colan), comes on stage, there’s no way of knowing what he will do. Unlike the other students who sang Broadway songs, he sings "Better Now" by Post Malone. Troy is ecstatic to hear a song he knows and gets up and dances to the tune in front of the stage. The other teachers aren’t happy with his posture, as he asks Devon if he knows any other Post Malone songs.
9 Classes Begin
The montage of all the classes beginning is absurd and hysterically funny. From dance to acting and music class — everything is taken extremely seriously. That’s until it shows the class on mask work taught by Janet (Ayo Edebiri). She creates an acting exercise based on the Kardashians for the characters and situations. This scene, combined with the costume design class that teaches how many times you should show your clavicle, the answer being once a week, is a great dive into how the camp works.
8 Casting Decisions
Casting a play or musical can be quite stressful, and AdironACTS is not an exception. The teachers go at each other’s throats to get their favorites on their productions, as well as being painfully honest about the kid’s talents. Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) goes as far as saying that a particular girl looks too virgin, and then she adds that they are all virgins (as they are really young kids), but that one especially doesn’t exude the sexuality needed for the part.
7 Troy Talks to His Mom
Rebecca-Diane is the most spiritual of all the staff. She even gives classes on the past lives of students, telling who they were and what they did. So, in a moment of trouble, Troy asks to speak to his mom, who is in a coma, through her. The scene is ridiculous as Rebecca clearly fakes her voice and just wants this to be over with. And it only gets better as Troy fully believes he is talking to Joan.
6 Joan’s Live Feed
Joan is in a coma for almost the entire movie. To pay homage to her life and how she impacted various lives with her camp, Rebecca-Diane and Amos created the musical Joan, Still. Troy decides to do a live stream from the hospital so that she can see the play, and they can see her.
It shows her lying in a hospital bed with a respirator — as she is still in a coma. This only turns out funnier when, by the end of the play, the woman, not Joan, who was being broadcasted, wakes up. Troy made a mistake and streamed the woman next to his mom.
5 Troy’s Plan
Troy is, according to himself, an en-TROY-preneuer. He has a few plans on how to get money so that they won’t lose the camp. One of them is to have a dinner party for a few men who are a part of a Rotary society. He creates a plan so that he won’t have to hire staff: he puts the children to do it. The plan quickly backfires as the small actors and dancers start to perform, as they think this is an immersive theater experience rather than child labor.
4 Opening Act
At the beginning of every summer camp, Rebecca-Diane and Amos (Ben Platt) perform every musical the kids may enter, as well as revealing the original one they wrote that will be performed by the students. It's an insane moment that sets the tone for these two characters, as well as the overall feeling of how passionate they are about theater.
3 “There’s a narc amongst us.”
Gigi (Owen Thiele) is a glorious costume teacher. He goes on stage to talk to the kids for the first time, asking them to give him their updated sizes. He then adds at the end that he won’t be doing piercings on the students this year as they have done in the past. The reason why? “There’s a narc amongst us.” He then proceeds to point out which student told on their secret piercing situation, adding that’s totally fine – which clearly isn’t.
2 “She’s using.”
There are strict rules on camp, and that leads to even some side business to make money, including teas for sore throat. A little girl nails an emotional scene on a rehearsal for the play Joan, Still. However, Rebecca-Diane looks at Amos and says, “She’s using.” They jump on stage and start to interrogate the student.
It’s confirmed that she has been using a tear stick, which is strictly forbidden and considered a crutch (and seen as badly as using an actual drug) for real actors. It’s hilarious as they make her apology to her scene partner, Devon, who really doesn’t care that much.
1 “What’s a straight play?”
The movie starts pretty hilariously and doesn’t drop the ball. Troy is painfully unaware of his mother’s camp and the things they do there. When Glenn (Noah Galvin) explains to him that they will need to think about the soundtrack aspects for the straight plays and musicals, Troy is really confused. He asks what straight play and Glenn proceeds to explain there are straight plays and musicals. Then, Troy asks, “What is a gay play?” to which Glenn can only respond, “I guess a musical.”
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