I was a teenage thespian freak

Camp

Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5)
Director: Todd Graff
Running time: 111 minutes
Language: English
Currently showing

Being a teenager is difficult, but when you're a teenager aspiring to be a music star, that difficulty gets multiplied by 10. So goes the tune of "Camp," the directorial debut by actor/writer Todd Graff.

"Camp" has its roots in "Fame," that 1980 take on teens in a performing-arts school who dream of superstardom. Set at the famous Stage Door Manor, a summer music camp, "Camp" is noticeably less glamorous, even sloppy and frayed at the edges, like the hem of a discount T-shirt. But these qualities -- along with a defiant, don't-give-a-damn amateurism -- make "Camp" all the more likable.

Graff shot the whole thing in 23 days, working with a cast of nonprofessionals at Stage Door Manor (renamed in the movie as Camp Ovation), and using its facilities. The big bonus for him was getting the rights to the music -- including such popular numbers as "Promises, Promises" and "Dreamgirls" -- for almost nothing, on the strength of the screenplay and Graff's indomitable determination to get this work made.