[ad_1]
In Warwick, New York, on the New Jersey border, there sits a now-defunct Jewish summer camp, Kurtz Camp. When the cast and crew of Theater Camp—an ensemble mockumentary out on Friday—arrived to film there, it felt like a ghost town, dotted with half-empty Gatorade bottles. Over the course of just 19 days of shooting, Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Ayo Edebiri, Patti Harrison, and a host of child actors brought it back to life. (The production funded improvements to the camp to later reopen it for Warwick residents.)
The rest of the cast, which includes Jimmy Tatro, Nathan Lee Graham, Caroline Sidney Aaron, Amy Sedaris, and Owen Thiele, got comfortable with each other quickly to improvise most of the dialogue. “We didn’t have khbrknews to not be” comfortable, says Gordon, who co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the film. “That’s what theater does, right? You all become this little family.”
Theater Camp takes place at AdirondACTS, a beloved camp in upstate New York that’s teetering, unbeknownst to its teachers and campers, on the cusp of financial ruin after its founder (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma. Gordon and Platt star as Rebecca-Diane and Amos, two zany, brilliant theater teachers who make AdirondACTS go round. Galvin plays Glenn, the camp’s overworked stage manager who harbors a secret knack for the spotlight. (Platt and Galvin are both well-known in the theater world for each playing the titular role of Dear Evan Hansen; they are also engaged.)
Gordon—who recently played Claire on The Bear—wrote the film with Platt, Galvin, and Nick Lieberman. She also directed the film with Lieberman in their directorial debut. The movie originates in a short film made three years ago, also by the four friends, who have known each other since they were teenagers through theater and musical workshops.
[ad_2]
