STAGEDOOR
D: Alexandra Shiva
Documentary Feature Competition
Stagedoor follows the lives of several children during the summer of 2003 at Stagedoor Manor, a rigorous musical theatre camp in the Catskills. The initial scene – wherein a counselor makes campers repeat “toward” like a mantra until the rogue Long Islander singing “towards” is reconditioned – sets the tone for the rest of the film. Though Stagedoor never exploits its subjects, its best qualities lie in the Christopher Guest-esque moments when they, both campers and adults, take themselves a bit more seriously than they ought. The gravitas attached to the alleged elitism of the camp’s exclusive cabaret group, for instance, will make you former campers pine for the days when playing a kissing game despite counselors’ warnings really was a huge deal (“At this point, we’d be willing to stand up in front of lunch and apologize,” says one repentant camper), and parting from your friends at summer’s end was the sweetest sorrow you’d yet experienced.Paramount, 7pm
This article appears in March 18 • 2005.