It's Fame without the mullets, "Grease" without the pomade, "Dirty Dancing" without the rampant heterosexuality; Todd Graff's soapy song-and-dance portrait of life at a summer camp for budding thesps is exactly what it says on the poster.
And while "Camp" doesn't have the polish of a big-budget musical like "Chicago", it's got twice the wit and infinitely more heart. Oh, and better singing.
Daniel Letterle heads the cast of newcomers as limelight-loving Vlad, the one straight guy within a 100 mile radius. His boy band looks draw the other campers like moths to cashmere, including plain Jane "fag-hag" Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat), bitchy bombshell Jill (Alana Allen), and self-styled prom queen Michael (Robin de Jesus).
Hormones rage, ambitions run high and in the midst of it all, washed-up Broadway impresario Bert Hanley (Don Dixon) is trying to put on a show - between swigs of JD. It's called showbiz, folks.
Todd Graff should know - he wrote the script from his own experiences. But for all his passion, he's unsure of his footing behind the camera and the action tends to clomp along when it should be skipping. Add to that Daniel Letterle's general insipidness and a couple of scenes just hit the wall and keel over.
Still there's something irresistible about this teenybopping hoofer, which has the nerve to mix the beats of Stephen Sondheim and Burt Bacharach, with The Rolling Stones and The Replacements.
Maybe it's the slew of acerbic one-liners and outrageous set-ups, including the overweight Jenna (Tiffany Taylor) reciting Shakespeare with her jaw wired shut, the staging of a Samuel Beckett play in a dumpster, and the casting of black actors as Orthodox Jews in a production of Fiddler on the Roof.
Or perhaps it's just the zeal of its eager beaver cast, determined to give this gig their best shot. For sure "Camp" combusts with raw energy and the humour is... well, flaming!
"Camp" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 5th September 2003.
Camp (2003)
