As summer rolls around again, kids are gathering from all over to attend AdriondACTS, a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York that's a haven for budding performers. After its indomitable founder Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris) falls to a stroke and subsequent coma, her clueless "tech-bro" son, Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the thespian paradise running. With financial ruin looming, Troy must join forces with technical director, Glenn Winthrop (Noah Galvin), teachers, Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), producer Rita Cohen (Caroline Aaron), and their band of eccentric teachers to come up with a solution before the curtain rises on opening night.
Others to round out the cast are Ayo Edebiri as Janet Walch, Owen Thiele as Gigi Charbonier, Nathan Lee Graham as Clive DeWitt, head of dance, Patti Harrison as Caroline Krauss, financial consultant, Kyndra Sanchez as Darla Sanchez, Bailee Bonick as Mackenzie Thomas, Donovan Colan as Devon Miller and Alan Kim as Alan Park.
This was incredibly well directed by virtually two newcomers to feature films, Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman (shorts and music videos). Other than stage work (acting, music), Gordon has no other directing experience, whereas Lieberman otherwise has only some shorts and music videos to his credit, however, their ability to stage and pace these actors was exercised incredibly well. I'm sure it has everything to do with their stage work along with the fact that they are both seasoned actors as well. I know I've mentioned this in prior reviews, but typically if a projects has more than two writers that created the screenplay, it seriously has a tendency to get bogged down with confusion and choppiness. This being penned by four writers, Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman and Ben Platt (shorts), I was amazed with the continuity, conciseness, and cohesiveness this carried. Really, the only complaint I could even have is the fact that it could've been a bit more satirical (not hit over the head satirical), but just a bit more of a parody since this was clearly being pushed in that direction. Also, the aspect of putting this in a 'documentary style' format, gave it that satirical look as well. The cast was effective and worked well off of each other. I felt that Jimmy Tatro as Troy gave a terrific portrayal of the guy taking his mom's place at the last second to run this camp. He was seriously like a fish out of water, socially, financially, and managerially. He was a nice guy, but clearly was clueless. And the overs had their own issues as well to contend with.
All in all, this definitely gives you a funny and interesting behind-the-scenes look at how a theater camp is run, both in the acting and what it takes to get the production off the ground otherwise. I feel this is definitely worth the price of admission if for only all the eclectic characters this houses.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 93mins.
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