Theater Camp review – affectionately acerbic comedy about musical theatre kids

When the beloved proprietor of an upstate New York theatre summer camp for kids collapses during a performance of Bye Bye Birdie, it’s up to her son, a posturing vlogger bro named Troy (Jimmy Tatro), to take the reins. Since he understands theatre about as well as a horse understands crochet, he’s not a great fit for the job, something that core staff members Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film) make waspishly clear. But fine-tuning the jazz hands of the next generation of stage stars doesn’t come cheap and the camp is on the brink of foreclosure. With its thespy insider gags and mockumentary format, Theater Camp shares something of the affectionately acerbic spirit of Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman. It’s enjoyable stuff, particularly the bracingly catty sniping of the first two-thirds. But, ultimately, the film falls prey to the core misconception of musical theatre: that an extravagantly earnest song-and-dance number is a substitute for an actual ending.