''Camp'' is a 2003 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, written and directed by

Todd Graff Todd Graff (born October 22, 1959) is an American actor, writer and director, best known for his 2003 independent film ''Camp'' and his role as Alan "Hippy" Carnes in the 1989 science fiction film ''The Abyss''. Early life Graff was born in New ...

, about an upstate

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performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

. The film is based on Graff's own experiences at a similar camp called Stagedoor Manor, where many scenes of the movie were filmed.

Plot

The film centers on the experiences of several teenagers at Camp Ovation, a summer theatre camp. Shy Ellen Lucas greets her friend Michael Flores, a gay teenager who was violently beaten by his classmates after showing up to his junior prom in drag. Nerdy Fritzi Wagner attempts to befriend icy Jill Simmons, but ends up toting her luggage instead. Returning camper Jenna Malloran laments that her parents forced her to have her jaw wired shut in order to lose weight. The campers are surprised by the arrival of Vlad Baumann, a handsome new camper who is, as a staff member marvels, "an honest-to-god straight boy." The camp enlists a guest counselor for the summer: composer Bert Hanley, whose play "''The Children's Crusade''" was a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

many years earlier. Frustrated with his lack of recent success, he is now a grumpy alcoholic. Vlad and Ellen flirt a bit after rehearsal one day. Soon afterward, Vlad is seduced by Jill, who later makes cruel cracks at Ellen for her weight and her inexperience with boys. Feeling guilty, Vlad comforts Ellen and the two begin to inch toward a relationship. After Fritzi is caught washing Jill's underwear, Jill expresses her disgust with Fritzi and kicks her out of the cabin. Enraged, Fritzi sabotages Jill's next performance and takes her place mid-song, revealing her previously hidden talent. Vlad convinces Michael to invite his parents to his next play. When they fail to show, Michael flees the stage mid-performance. Vlad reveals to Michael that he has his own hidden problem: Vlad has

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Fixation (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Idée fixe (psychology), a preo ...

and must take medication to make life bearable. Hanley gets into a drunken rage and tells the campers that theater will only make them bitter and lonely like himself. Vlad finds a trove of music that Hanley has written over the years but not released. During a rehearsal for the camp's benefit performance, Vlad and the campers sing one of Hanley's songs. Hanley's heart is lifted and his disposition changes. Shortly before the benefit, Michael sleeps with Dee, Ellen's roommate, out of frustration about his unrequited crush on Vlad. Vlad and Dee end up making out on Dee's bed, and Ellen walks in on them. She runs off, hurt, and refuses to talk to Vlad. The night of the benefit concert arrives, and the campers are starstruck as famed composer

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

is in attendance. The dressing room atmosphere is tense, and gets even more awkward when Vlad's girlfriend Julie shows up to see him. Fritzi sabotages Jill's makeup, causing her to break out in boils. Jill attacks her, injuring her, and both are unfit to go onstage. To replace her, Bert cuts the wires on Jenna's mouth, allowing her to sing a powerful song directed to her parents in the audience, telling them to accept her as she is. The benefit is a hit, but Vlad, Michael, and Ellen are still arguing. Vlad admits that he is an "attention junkie" and attempts to please everyone in order to gain their good favor. Vlad explains that he still cares about Ellen and that his girlfriend Julie had just broken up with him. After another apology, Ellen forgives him, and the three go swimming.

Cast

* Daniel Letterle as Vlad Baumann * Joanna Chilcoat as Ellen Lucas *

Robin de Jesús Robin de Jesús is an American film and theater actor of Puerto Rican descent. He has received Tony Award nominations for his roles in ''In the Heights'', '' La Cage aux Folles'', and '' The Boys in the Band''. Life and career Robin de Jesús ...

as Michael Flores *

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

as Fritzi Wagner * Alana Allen as Jill Simmons * Vince Rimoldi as Spitzer * Don Dixon as Bert Hanley * Tiffany Taylor as Jenna Malloran *

Sasha Allen Sasha Sierra Allen (born June 4, 1982) is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Harlem, New York, she began her career in the music industry as a backing vocalist for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Leona ...

as Dee * Eddie Clark and Leslie Frye as Mr. and Mrs. Malloran * David Perlow as Ben Lucas * DeQuina Moore as DeQuina *

Steven Cutts Steven Cutts is an American actor, writer, and director best known for the role of Shaun in the musical film, ''Camp'', which also starred actress Anna Kendrick. He appeared in the National Touring, Original Canadian, and Broadway productions ...

as Shaun *

as himself The movie is notable as the film debut of future Academy Award nominee

, future three-time Tony nominee

, future ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' contestant

, and future Broadway performers DeQuina Moore and

Production

The film was produced by

Jersey Films Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...

, John Wells Productions, Killer Films, and Laughlin Park Pictures. All production took place in

Soundtrack

Reception

Box office

In the opening weekend, the film made $54,294. It came in ranking at #45, showing at only 3 theaters in the United States and averaging $18,098. The film's widest release took place in the UK where it showed in 116 theaters. It ran for 12 weeks and closed on October 16, 2003. It has grossed $1,629,862 since 2003. The film also hit several top 100 charts for films in numerous categories. It is number 96 in the genre of gay/lesbian independent films, 78 for yearly PG-13 movies for 2003, and ranked 198 for the year 2003.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 64% approval rating, based on 107 reviews with an average rating of 5.93/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Campy comedy that squeaks by on its charms." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of critics' reviews, the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Margaret A. McGurk of ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

'' says "Like the prodigies on screen, Camp powers through its imperfections, with irresistible results." James Sullivan of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' said in his review titled "''Camp''," "There is lots of music and a genuine showstopper when Jenna sings "Here's Where I Stand" with such emotion that even her hardheaded dad gets the message."

Award nominations

''Camp'' received nominations for the following awards: * 2004, Nominated for Artiors Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Independent, Bernard Telsey * 2004, Nominated for Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance, Anna Kendrick * 2004, Nominated for Golden Satellite Award for Best Original Score, Stephen Trask, and Best Original Song, Bob Telson and Lee Breuer (For the song “How Shall I See You Through My Tears”) * 2003, Nominated for Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival, Todd Graff

Sequel

Todd Graff promoted an Indiegogo campaign in 2015 to fund a sequel. Rather than treat the original as a previous year at Camp Ovation, the plot framed ''Camp'' as a movie filmed on the campgrounds.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camp 2003 films 2003 independent films 2003 LGBT-related films 2000s musical comedy-drama films 2000s teen comedy-drama films American independent films American musical comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American teen LGBT-related films American teen musical films Cross-dressing in American films 2000s English-language films Films about actors Films directed by Todd Graff Films produced by Christine Vachon Films produced by Danny DeVito Films scored by Stephen Trask Films set in New York (state) Films shot in New York (state) Gay-related films Killer Films films LGBT-related musical comedy-drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Films about summer camps 2003 directorial debut films LGBT-related coming-of-age films 2000s American films