Admist the laughs, Theater Camp finds a moving "I get it" moment for Troy.
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2023's Theater Camp feels like a movie made specifically for me. The mockumentary conjured up by a collection of former theater kids including Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Nick Lieberman and Noah Galvin, three of whom also star in the film and two that the directed the film my goodness, follows the misadventures at a struggling sleep away theater camp in upstate New York called AdirondACTS in the most tumultuous year in the camp's history. It is a hilarious romp of a flick that is both a send-up and love letter to the world of musical theater including the often inappropriate or melodramatic staff, the overworked and under-appreciated tech crew, and the talented if over-the-top kiddos. So what takes this movie from "solid comedy" to frequently tear-inducing? Moments like this, where the son of the camp's founder, Troy, watches a scene from a musical all about his mom Joan.
The Scene
Troy is in a bad spot. He just made a deal that would effectively end the camp after this summer. Not that he knew that when he signed the deal, but the reality of the situation is quickly creeping up on him. Hoping to find some kind of salve or solution to this problem, Troy heads to the dress rehearsal for the camp's signature show: an original musical that this year, is all about his mother Joan.
And Troy just so happened to arrive at the best/worst scene for him: it's Joan singing to her son. About supporting him, protecting him and giving him a good life, in a sweet ballad a young girl sings to a crib.
For the first time all movie, Troy breaks. He's emotionally overwhelmed as he realizes what he's done and is so desperate for help that he asks Rebecca-Diane, an alleged medium, to channel his mother and give him advice. Rebecca-Diane doesn't have any, but it's clear now that Troy is now desperate to save the camp by any means. Something has clicked.
Why I Love It
Troy's Arc
There's two things to know about Troy. The first is that he's not a theater guy. Troy is introduced to the audience as an aspiring entrepreneur and influencer who has a lot of trouble connecting with the camp kids that he, understandably, thinks are very weird. The second is that he's trying his very best to keep the camp afloat in his mother's stead. At the film's beginning his mother had a seizure while watching a musical performance and is currently in a coma. So now it's fallen to him to keep the camp going and keep it solvent, even as money and options continue to dwindle.
To say it's been a rough go is an understatement. Not only does Troy not have an emotional connection to the camp to give him skin the game besides obligation, but Troy's attempted ventures like having the kids be waiters for a local group didn't go well.
All of which makes sense, because Troy, while a bit of a meathead about certain things, is the in for our non-theater people audience. Someone who's been learning about what the camp means to the kids and why his mom founded it at all.
Troy has been trying. He's been trying to understand the kids and meet them halfway. This includes techno versions of Broadway tunes at a camp dance, tepid attempts to embrace the morning attention call (it's "O What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma). He's been working on it.
Troy has been trying. He's been trying to understand the kids and meet them halfway. This includes techno versions of Broadway tunes at a camp dance, tepid attempts to embrace the morning attention call (it's "O What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma). He's been working on it.
And just when he thought he made a deal that would save the camp, he's told he actually might've killed it. Because as soon as the camp defaults on its payments, it will belong to Lakeside, the rival standard summer camp across the lake.
This though, this is something different.
Troy Might Get Musical Theater Now
As I mentioned earlier, Troy doesn't get musical theater up until this point. He has a very good heart. He just doesn't have the connection that could shape his methods to save the camp. But something about seeing a representation of his mother sing a sweet song to a baby him seems to unlock something in him. He gets it. On an emotional level, he gets the appeal now. That aching sincerity that musical theater is mocked and celebrated for hit him right in a sensitive spot to the point that he feels a strong desire to speak to his mother at that moment.
Not only is this the first real crack in Troy's armor, but it also marks his turning point from business guy trying to save his mom's silly camp, to true believer trying to save something special.
What I find so great/telling is that from this point out, Troy's attempts to save the camp aren't through some backwards business deal to use the kids talents outside of the camp. His hail mary is actually to get investors to come to the final musical performance of the show that moved him.
And while it doesn't work as expected, it does work. Troy does save the camp...because the AirBnB guest he had was moved by the show and gave the camp a giant donation.
Conclusion: An Emotional Shift
In one of its most unconventional episodes, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia decides to throw out the anarchic "everyone's a piece of shit" format for pure sincerity. In it, Mac decides to do something unthinkable and practices and performs a dance piece that function as an expression of his emotions and coming out to his father at a prison. His father...walks out. But Danny DeVito's Frank is moved to tears "I get it now," he says as the other inmates give Mac, who is reeling and weeping on the stage, a standing ovation.
And while it is far more underplayed, this is Troy's "I get it now" moment. What makes theater special, what makes the camp special, what makes his mom special, and how much he wants to do right by her all clicks here. In the midst of all of this hilarious chaos an achingly sincere moment cuts through and sets the wheels in motion to save the camp.
And while it is far more underplayed, this is Troy's "I get it now" moment. What makes theater special, what makes the camp special, what makes his mom special, and how much he wants to do right by her all clicks here. In the midst of all of this hilarious chaos an achingly sincere moment cuts through and sets the wheels in motion to save the camp.
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